President Muhammadu Buhari has turned down an offer by the
Federal Government to buy 5 new armored Mercedes Benz S-600 (V222) cars for his
use. The cars which cost is about N400m were planned to be purchased by the
State House.
A source close to the presidency told journalists on
Thursday that Buhari found out about the plan when the Permanent Secretary,
State House, Mr. Nebolisa Emodi, briefed him of his ministry’s activities on
Wednesday.
Angry at the revelation, the President was said to have told
Emodi that the purchase was unnecessary. Describing it as a waste of scarce
resources, the source said Buhari told the permanent secretary that the cars he
inherited from former President Goodluck Jonathan were good enough for him.
“I don’t need any new cars. The ones I am using now are just
fine,” the source quoted the President as saying.
Top government officials, however, said Buhari welcomed
other initiatives presented by the permanent secretary to reduce the operating
costs of the State House and strengthen its Finance and Accounts Internal
Control Mechanisms.
However he directed that more efforts be made towards the
capture of all State House expenses within the approved national budget, in order
to avoid the frequent recourse by past administrations to “Presidential
intervention funds.”
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and
Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, confirmed that Buhari had withheld approval for
the purchase of the new cars. Shehu said the President would continue to use
the cars left behind by Jonathan in keeping with his commitment to prudent
management of national resources.
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