Senators,Members of the House of Reps to leave with 109 SUVs,360 cars

Senators and members of the House of Representatives will go home with the operational vehicles of the National Assembly currently in their possession as the 7th Assembly winds down on Friday.

Each of the 109 senators has a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado SUVs, assigned to them for “operational” purposes like carrying out committee and oversight duties.

Every member of the House of Representatives has a 2011 model Toyota Camry attached to them for operational duties.

Apart from the operational vehicles, principal officers, including the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Reps, have additional vehicles assigned to them.

The Prado SUVs and Toyota Camry vehicles are properties of the National Assembly that should have ordinarily been left behind by the departing legislators.

But with the understanding of the management of the legislature, the vehicles have been valued, taking note of the years of depreciation, to allow lawmakers who wish to go home with them to do so by paying 30 per cent of the purchase price.

The money is to be deducted from the severance package of the senators and the House members.

Findings showed that in line with the arrangement, the Prado SUVs, valued at the market price of about N9m, would be given away to senators for around N2.7m.

In the same vein, members of the House will each part with about N1.9m to go home with the Camry, valued at N6.5m.

An official  of the National Assembly management, who confirmed the “deal” to in Abuja on Tuesday, said, “The cars have been used for four years, so this valuation has taken cognisance of the years of depreciation.

“The vehicles are not taken away free of charge and as a matter of fact, it is optional. A lawmaker who does not want to go with the vehicle will submit it to the National Assembly and it will be so documented.

“The deduction will be done from their severance package at source, which makes it easier.

“It is a practice that has been on over the years.”

Investigations revealed that each of the senators, on resumption in 2011, was given 300 per cent of their total basic salaries as car loans and  300 per cent as housing allowance. About 250 per cent was advanced to them as furniture allowance.

Each of the senators, according to investigations, is receiving N1.8m basic salary monthly while the Senate President’s basic salary per month, is N2m.

The car loan, which was about N6.5m per senator and N7m for the senate president, was used to buy a brand new Toyota Camry car each.

The amount, according to a senior member of staff of the National Assembly, was deducted from the basic salaries of the senators within two years.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the press, said the arrangement was a departure from the past practice whereby some senators went away with their operational vehicles as parting gifts.

He said, “The loans were obtained for the lawmakers through the banks where their salary accounts are domiciled, hence the bankers usually deduct certain percentage agreed upon from their monthly payments to service the car, housing and furniture loans.” 

Punch