The All Progressives Congress (APC) has hailed Nigerians for kicking against the decision by the National Assembly members to purchase Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) for themselves.
Recall that the lawmakers had earlier announced the purchase of exotic vehicles worth N160 million each and bulletproof vehicles for principal officers.
It was gathered that the SUVs for each of the 109 Senators and 360 members of the House of Representatives are estimated at N57.6 billion.
Meanwhile, in an interview on Arise News, on Saturday, APC spokesman, Felix Morka, said that the criticisms which trailed the decision of the lawmakers to buy exotic vehicles are valid.
He disclosed that though, the National Assembly will make its own decisions and follow its own rules, they should understand that Nigerians have concerns, which need to be taken into account while making decisions for themselves.
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He said: “Cutting the cost of governance is important, but it has to be relative. It is not an absolute proposition. It has to be relative to the output.
“The president has the prerogative to put up his cabinet hoping that they will perform optimally as he wishes. If that’s done, I think we should take these things in context.
“We should measure whether, at the end of the day, the expectations of the cabinet exceed the expenditure. I am certain that at the end of the day, the value we will get outweighs some of the costs.
“But I also agree that the issue of SUVs for the members of the National Assembly is controversial. Nigerians are right to criticise some of these things. But let’s also look at the fact that some of the legislators are new in the block.
“I’ve heard people saying they could’ve bought these cars themselves or that they should have used Nigeria-made cars, and all of these ideas are valid.
