President Muhammadu Buhari has
turned down an offer by the Federal Government to buy 5 new armoured 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.
Punch
0 Comments