The Senate yesterday cleared the air on the controversial purchase of utility vehicles for its members, clarifying that no senator had received car loan in the Eight Senate.
The Senate also said that it did not purchase 108 vehicles as being speculated both in the media and other fora, specifying that only 36 out of the proposed 108 vehicles had been purchased.
The Chairman, Committee on Senate Services, Senator Ibrahim Gobir, gave the clarifications in Abuja, when journalists sought his response on the controversies trailing purchase of cars by the upper chamber.
He said it was the sensitivity of the Senate to the plight of Nigerians in the face of the present economic hardship that made the Senate to buy only 36 at a time instead of the 108 needed.
The lawmaker further explained that it was the depreciation of the naira to the dollar that made the cost of the vehicles reasonably high, as each costs N36.5 million.
He said it was wrong for analysts and commentators to allege that the Senate purchased the cars without appropriation, noting that it was provided for in the 2015 budget.
“A lot has been happening within the last two days concerning the issue of cars vis-a-vis car loan and cost of the cars and we feel it is necessary to come out and inform the public about what it is, so that people can have a better understanding of the whole thing to avoid the wrong perception being created among Nigerians.
