President Muhammadu Buhari has reportedly turned down an offer by the permanent secretary, State House, Nebolisa Emodi, to procure five new armoured Mercedes Benz S-600 (V222) cars valued at N400 million for his use.
The President, it was learnt, said he would continue to used the cars inherited from President Goodluck Jonathan.
According to a source at the Presidency, Buhari learnt of the plan when Mr. Nebolisa Emodi, permanent secretary, State House, was briefing him of his ministry’s activities on Wednesday.
The President was said to have told Emodi that the purchase was unnecessary, saying it as a waste of scarce resources.
“I don’t need any new cars. The ones I am using now are just fine,” the source quoted the President as saying.
The top government officials, however, said Buhari welcomed other initiatives presented by the permanent secretary to reduce the operating costs of the State House and strengthen its Finance and Accounts Internal Control Mechanisms.
He however directed that more efforts be made henceforth to capture all State House expenses within the approved national budget.
This, he said, was to avoid the frequent recourse by past administrations to “Presidential intervention funds.”
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, confirmed that Buhari had withheld approval for the purchase of the new cars.
Shehu said the President would continue to use the cars left behind by Jonathan in keeping with his commitment to prudent management of national resources.
It was learnt that the proposal to procure the new cars was first made to Jonathan before he left office, but the former President was said to have directed that it be represented to Buhari for approval on his assumption of office since the cars could only be delivered some months after the May 29 handover date.
