Senate Defends Purchase Of SUVs, Says It’s For Durability

The Senate has justified the purchase of sports utility vehicles (SUVs) for its members, stating that it is for durability.

The chairman of the Senate Committee on Senate Services, Sunday Karimi, wondered why Nigerians were not talking about the ministers who ride about four official vehicles.

“Somebody that is a minister has more than three Land Cruisers, Prado and other vehicles and you are not asking them questions, why us?

“These vehicles that you see, go to Nigeria roads today, if I go home once to my senatorial district, I come back spending a lot on my vehicles because our roads are bad.

“I said the decision that we took on using a Land Cruiser is for the cost and durability. Before they came up with this. It is not the decisions of the senators alone, we did an analysis before arriving at land cruisers.

“It was based on a comparative analysis of the cost of technical issues and durability on Nigeria roads.

“We want something that we can maintain for another four years and the issue of buying vehicles from the National Assembly, you know it is a recurring issue, it occurs every assembly; it will always come up.

“If you got to state houses of assembly today, check out most of them before they were even inaugurated, the governor would have bought vehicles waiting for them, even local government chairmen.

“I drove the vehicle my local government chairman uses, so why (question) the National Assembly?” Karimi asked.