Suspended lawmaker, Abdulmumin Jibrin, over the weekend admonished Nigerians backlashing the Federal Government, to be sceptical of reasons given by the House of Representatives over the purchase of Peugeot 508 saloon cars priced at N10 million each.

According to ceoafrica, Jibrin gave the admonition to infuriated Nigerians who called the National Assembly congregation of insensitive politicians due to the latest spending spree by lawmakers since it came barely weeks after the country’s economy nosedived into recession. 

The Kano lawmaker, who was suspended on September 28 for highlighting possible budget fraud in the House, said Mr Dogara approved the purchase which he described as insensitive, reckless and unnecessary, as a quid pro quo for guaranteed loyalty from members.

Writing from his self-imposed exile in London, Mr Jibrin said the vehicle purchase marked the latest manifestation of the sharp practices that have become synonymous with the parliament under Yakubu Dogara’s leadership which he described as carrot and stick approach aimed at silencing members and ensuring that corruption cases brought against him are not judged.

Mr Jibrin said “It is an outright lie that the cars are needed for oversight as over 80 per cent of oversight activities of the House of Representatives are carried out in Abuja,”

“And in almost all instances, it is the MDAs that arrange buses to convey members from the premises of the House to the respective MDAs.

“In the case of areas that are far away from Abuja, members always use flights to the nearest location while the MDAs arrange vehicles and other logistics to complete the visit.

“In almost all instances the MDA’s provide accommodation and pay for the tickets and other logistics.”

However, in a swift reaction, Abdulrazak Namdas, the spokesman for the House, confirmed on Monday night that 28 lawmakers have so far benefitted from the scheme, with additional 22 more to collect before the end of the year.

“The vehicles are being distributed in batches of 50 vehicles per delivery,” Mr Namdas said. “I can confirm that 28 lawmakers have collected and we plan to give additional 22 members from the first 50 vehicles that arrived.”

Mr Namdas, who spoke from a gathering of West African parliamentarians in Ghana, said the lawmakers did, in fact, put Nigerians into consideration while deliberating on the purchase added that vehicles will not be paid for at once but on instalments.