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.
