By Shola Abayomi.
The Senate spokesperson, Adedayo Adeyeye, has reacted to a lawsuit by some civil society groups challenging the Senate’s rumored decision to purchase official cars for its members.
INSIDER learnt that the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, BudgIT, Enough is Enough and 6,721 concerned Nigerians had filed a lawsuit at the Federal High Court Abuja, praying the court to restrain the National Assembly Service Commission from releasing the sum of N5.5bn allegedly budgeted for purchase of exotic cars for principal members of the ninth Senate.
The petitioners also urged the court to prevail upon the Senate to carry out a downward review of the said sum.
In his reaction, Senator Adeyeye, who spoke on Channels TV yesterday, denied any knowledge of such plan by the Senate, but added that if the rumored amount was captured in the budget, then it was purely legal.
Adeyeye described the legal action instituted against the Senate by the civil society groups as an exercise in futility.
“It is an exercise in futility; a complete exercise in futility. Even I as a Senator have not heard anything about that.
“So why will people be relying on rumour and newspaper reports? I wouldn’t know and in any case, if the Senate is going to spend that (amount); if it is budgeted for, then it means it is purely legal”, he said.
He said it is common practice for every new administration to budget for vehicles for public office holders, while wondering why critics had chosen to focus solely on the National Assembly, forgetting the other arms of government.
The Senate spokesman retorted that he could not imagine himself in a vehicle used by a former lawmaker because “some of the vehicles they bought four years ago were no longer serviceable while others have probably been sold to their users.”