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.
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