Peter Obi defends N160m Prado Jeep for Lawmakers
By Ogunsona Samuel
Labour Party, (LP) leader, Mr Peter Obi has justified the purchase of N160m worth of Prado Jeep for members of the National Assembly.
The N160m offer in coming in the midst of Nigeria’s harsh economic meltdown.
With 360 members in the House of Representatives alone, the total budget for the lawmakers is a whooping N46billion, far more than what the Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities, ASUU is asking the Nigerian Government invest in higher education for Nigerian students.
But Obi, the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP said the N160m for the lawmakers was not a bad idea raising questions about his touted puritan credentials.
Speaking to journalists in Abuja Obi said the N160m for each lawmaker is legitimate.
He said “They’re for official use.’”
He said he engaged LP lawmakers in the National Assembly, and he was satisfied that the N160m budgeted for Prado for each lawmaker was justified.
In a media chat he held in Abuja on Monday, Obi said
“Let me start with the issue of Labour Party members in the house. I have actually discussed this issue with them,” Obi said.
He spoke further “Surprisingly, I can tell you I heard that these vehicles are official cars. They have to use it. It is meant for office.
“So it is not as if it is their vehicle. They said it is official cars and you are meant to use it while you are in the senate.”
Obi also said he will contest the 2027 Presidential election saying that Nigeria needs visionary leadership to transform the country.
Obi’s position came as a surprise to many of his admirers but for those who have followed his political career, his response was not short of expectations.
“Many Nigerians are naive. They don’t know that Obi is part and parcel of the Nigerian political class. Talk about his being frugal is all propaganda. He is worst that many politicians in Nigeria judging from his record as the Governor of Anambra State,” Chinedu Okafor a member of Peoples Democatic Party, PDP in Lagos who is also from Anambra State told Irohinoodua in an online chat.