Ireti Kingibe Clarifies: 10th Senate isn’t responsible for purchase of N57bn SUVs

Senator Ireti Kingibe, the senator representing the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Abuja, has stated that, contrary to common belief, the 10th Senate is not in charge of the N57 billion worth of SUV purchases.

Kiginbe clarified that the SUVs were initially cars purchased by the 9th assembly, and the 10th assembly only received them.

There had been uproar over the purchase of SUVs at a time when many Nigerians are struggling to make ends meet with the constant increase in food prices, transportation, and others.

She revealed this during an interview on Arise TV on Wednesday evening.

She said: “The Senate says they are utility cars, and they don’t belong to senators. They were already bought before we became senators.

“I think that going forward, I think this 10th senate might opt to buy cheaper cars made in Nigeria or whatever; I don’t know, but you can hold us responsible for the cars that the 11th Assembly rides, but the ones that we got were purchased and sorted out by the 9th Assembly.

“The only thing that is being done is that they are being distributed to us. The truth of the matter is that I suppose more attention is being paid because the bulk of the people are poorer, but every National Assembly is always provided with utility cars.”

She further stated that she spends most of her basic salary as a senator on palliatives to help people.

“People are under the misconception that the basic salary of a senator is a lot. It’s not as much. But so far, I’ve been a senator; in the next week or two, it will be maybe 6 months, because there’s such intense poverty out there, a lot of it goes for palliatives. Oh, I have no food; I need to do this, so a lot of that goes there.”