President Muhammad Buhari has said that he is on the side of Nigerians as concerns the outlandish spending by the National Assembly.
Speaking during the Presidential Media Chat earlier today, Buhari said that the plans to spend N45 billion or N50 billion by the National Assembly was unacceptable since the lawmakers were still collecting transportation allowance. Besides he agreed with the representative of Premium Times that Nigeria cannot absorb the out of control spending by the National Assembly.
“I will have to have a talk with National Assembly about their plans to buy N50 billion cars. I don’t think that is legitimate enough since they will still collect vehicle allowance.
He added, the National Assembly may make me exercise my powers to block their spending if they plan to go ahead to spend N45 billion on cars. I may have to also appeal to the National Assembly to live within our means.
The President however added that it was the responsiblity of the Judiciary to check the legislative and that Nigerians should be more active in their protests by engaging the legal processes.
The President reminded Nigerians that although billions had been appropriated for the Presidency to make vehicle purchases in 2016, that it was likely a lot of that exoense would not be realized.
He said “Remember when I came in a payment of N400 milion was brought for the purchase of new vehicles but I did not approve. I said the ones that I inherited from the last administration are good enough for me to use for the next 10 years.”