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 our
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.
Our correspondent learnt that the proposal to procure the new cars was first made to Jonathan before he left office.
The former President was however said to
have directed that it be represented to Buhari for approval on his
assumption of office since the cars could only be delivered some months
after the May 29 handover date.
