Senate and House of Representatives will soon expend over N40 billion to purchase vehicles for lawmakers in the Red and Green Chambers of the National Assembly, Saturday Sun has gathered.
No fewer than 107 units of the 2023 model of the Toyota Landcruiser and 358 units of the 2023 model of Toyota Prado would be procured for the use of members of the Senate and the House of Representatives respectively, the newspaper learnt.
The planned purchase is different from the official vehicles expected to be purchased for the four presiding officers of the National Assembly.
These are President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abass; Deputy President of the Senate, Jibrin Barau; and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu.
According to investigations by Saturday Sun, the Senate Committee on Services, saddled with the responsibility of purchasing vehicles for lawmakers, will handle the negotiations and take delivery of them.
Senate President, Akpabio, had, during the week, constituted the Committee on Senate Services, headed by Kogi West senator, Sunday Karimi.
Though the Committee is expected to work with the management of the National Assembly, the purchase is the sole responsibility of the Senate.
A market survey carried out by Saturday Sun showed that the least amount for a 2023 model of Toyota Land Cruiser is N125 million. For the full option of the same brand, it goes for as high as N135 million.
In 2019, the Senate spent N50 million on each vehicle, when the dollar exchanged officially for N306. As at close of business on Thursday, a dollar exchanged for N770 in both official and parallel markets.
A car dealer who gave a breakdown of the Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV), said the 2023 model is the second production year of the current Land Cruiser generation.
He said it will come with the updated adaptive variable suspension for quality rides.
