Months After Buhari Purchased N1.6bn Vehicles, President Requests N2bn For New Ones

Barely a year after setting aside a whopping N1.6 billion for the purchase of vehicles for the State House, the Muhammadu Buhari administration is seeking additional N1.96 billion for the procurement of new ones.

The State House Permanent Secretary, Tijjani Umar, appeared before the Senate Committee on Federal Character and Intergovernmental Affairs to defend the fresh request contained in the 2023 budget.

The vehicle will cost the nation N360 million more than what the Presidential Villa earmarked for the same purpose in the 2022 budget proposal. In the 2021 budget, purchase of vehicles for the State House gulped N436 million.

Meanwhile, the administration plans to borrow N8.8 trillion from foreign and domestic sources to fund the N20.51 trillion 2023 budget presented to the National Assembly last month.

Umar, during the State House budget defence, said the poor condition of existing presidential vehicles “has resulted in frequent breakdowns and an unsustainable expenditure on repairs/replacements of parts,” adding that the N1.96 billion “would still be inadequate to meet existing requirements.”

The Permanent Secretary further argued that frequent use of the existing presidential vehicles for travel during the forthcoming 2023 elections would require them to be changed before the arrival of the next administration.

“2023 is an election year which entails frequent travels with associated costs as well as the replacement of vehicles by the incoming administration,” he said.