President Muhammadu
Buhari has turned down an offer by the Federal Government to procure five new
armoured Mercedes Benz S-600 (V222) cars for his use.
The cars which total
cost is put at about N400m were planned to be purchased by the State House. A Presidency source
told journalists on Thursday that Buhari got to know of the plan when the
Permanent Secretary, State House, Mr. Nebolisa Emodi, was briefing him of his
ministry’s activities on Wednesday.
Miffed by 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.
The 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.
He however directed
that more efforts be made henceforth to capture all State House expenses within
the approved national budget.
This, he said, was 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 to Punch's correspondent 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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