Senate Chief Whip, Ali Ndume, has defended the decision of both members of the Red and Green Chambers to drive exotic vehicles at the expense of taxpayers at a time common man is facing unpleasant economy imposed by oil subsidy removal.
The House of Representatives went for imported SUVs valued at N57.6 billion at N160 million each for 360 members, the Senators’ choice is costlier with both attracting criticism from the public.
Ndume, representing Bauchi South in an interview with Arise Television made case for the dissipation.
He said the expensive choice stemmed from bad roads prevalent across the country and allegedly the incapacity of automobiles manufacturing companies in Nigeria, saying, “The reason why we did not choose Nigerian-made cars is because they don’t manufacture their vehicles, but they assemble them.
“I prefer Nigerian-made products, but the Nigerian car companies are only buying the vehicle parts and assembling them here.”
