By Festus Owete and Adetutu Folasade-Koyi (Abuja)
August 2nd, 2007

Last session, cars procured for committees were boarded by members. Two were given to each of the 57 committees; one each for the Chairman and his Deputy. Each Senator is either a committee Chairman or a Vice Chairman.

A Senator who declined to be named confirmed that "the vehicles were bought for the committees but were boarded. When the issue of boarding the cars came up during a closed session before the end of last session, former Senate President, Ken Nnamani, insisted that it would be handled by an external agency; that the Ministry of Works should assess each vehicle and prescribe how much each Senator would pay for his own allotment.

"Senators complained about the directive and asked that an internal mechanism be used to value the vehicles instead. Nnamani refused. He insisted on due process and called in the Works Ministry to conduct the valuation.

"The vehicles were individually assessed, based on the ‘wear and tear’ by each Senator. Some Senators paid N1 million, others paid N1.2 million, N1.5 million. The highest amount a Senator paid was N1.6 million. Our colleagues in the House of Representatives were lucky to have bought the cars at lower prices. Some of them were just asked to pay N600,000 while others paid N500,000. I believe that no external agency was invited for the valuation".

However, House Services Committee Chairman, Titilayo Akindahunsi, said cars bought in the last session were not meant for committees; rather, they were meant for members who bought them in line with the government’s monetisation policy.

He added: "Let me start by saying that I have not received the handover note. So, I don’t have enough facts about these things. As you can see, I have no office yet. But I don’t think the previous committees were given vehicles to work with. They had no vehicles with which to work.

"The vehicles for individual lawmakers were monetised. And I don’t want to go into that because I don’t know what is in the handover note. But money was approved for these vehicles. As I said, I don’t have facts now, and I want you to wait till I get the handover note. I will most likely get the note before we resume".

In any case, new vehicles are expected to be bought for the 54 standing committees, handled by the Services Committee of both Chambers.

At the inauguration of the Senate Services Committee last Thursday, its Chairman, Effiong Dickson Bob, told his colleagues that vehicles would soon be provided for the standing committees.

"Senators may wish to recall that during the last Senate, all special and standing committees of the Senate were issued with utility vehicles which were monetised at the end of the Fifth Assembly. Despite this, the committee would like to also assure Senators that we shall ensure that vehicles are provided for all committees of the Senate without delay, to enable them achieve their legislative functions", he stated.

Bob also disclosed that the N25 billion office complex for Senators would be ready next month.

"With all we have seen, the offices are in perfect condition; so, what we are going to do now as a committee is to start arrangements to allocate those offices to Senators so that most of them who are available in the country can move into their offices in the next few days".

He dismissed reports that the Senate would buy and allocate cars for its members, adding that Senators are responsible for their own accommodation under the monetisation policy.

The committee would, however, ensure that certain criteria are adopted before Senators rent their apartments.

It also emerged on Wednesday that President Umaru Yar’Adua may forward the 2008 Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly when the Senate reconvenes on September 4.

Senate Whip, Kanti Bello, who made the disclosure, also said it would be ill-informed for the National Assembly to amendment the Constitution in 2008, as an early review may hinder the government’s agenda.

He stressed, however, that the presentation of the Appropriation Bill in September would guarantee a new budget by December 2007 to back up Yar’Adua’s economic policies.

"When we come back from recess", he added, "most of the Senate committees would be inaugurated and we expect the Ministers to brief the committees. That would take time because before committees start oversight functions, Ministries have to brief Senate committees to know exactly what the problems are. Of course, when we come back, there is also the issue of the budget.

"We hope that for the first time, we should be able to discuss the budget with the government and finish the budget before the end of the year. The idea of having budgets announced in February of a new year looks ridiculous. We should do our best to push the budget because that is one area that we need to work on immediately we come back. We have to finish the budget and all the committees have to look at the budget".