{"id":24791,"date":"2020-02-23T16:56:33","date_gmt":"2020-02-23T15:56:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=24791"},"modified":"2020-02-23T16:56:33","modified_gmt":"2020-02-23T15:56:33","slug":"serap-192-others-sue-house-of-reps-over-plan-to-purchase-of-400-cars-for-n5b","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=24791","title":{"rendered":"SERAP, 192 others sue House of Reps over plan to purchase of 400 cars for N5b"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and 192 concerned Nigerians have filed a lawsuit asking the Federal High Court in Abuja to \u201crestrain and stop Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, Speaker of the House of Representatives and all members of the House from spending an estimated N5.04 billion to buy 400 exotic cars for principal officers and members.\u201d<br \/>\nSERAP is also seeking a court order to \u201crestrain and stop the National Assembly Service Commission from releasing any public funds to the House of Representatives to buy 400 Toyota Camry 2020 model cars estimated to cost $35,130 per car, until an impact assessment of the spending on access to public services and goods like education, security, health and clean water, is carried out.\u201d<br \/>\nIn the suit number FHC\/ABJ\/CS\/205\/2020 filed last Friday, SERAP and the concerned Nigerians argue that: \u201cNigerians have a right to honest and faithful performance by their public officials including lawmakers, as public officials owe a fiduciary duty to the general citizenry. All those who hold the strings of political power and power over spending of Nigeria\u2019s commonwealth have a duty to answer for their conduct when call upon to do so by Nigerians.\u201d<br \/>\nThe plaintiffs also argue that: \u201cIt is illegal and unconstitutional for members of the House of Representatives to choose to buy expensive and exotic cars while encouraging Nigerians to tighten their belts and to patronize Nigerian brands. It is also illegal for members to reject cheaper and equally reliable options.\u201d<br \/>\nAccording to the plaintiffs, \u201cIf the members of House of Representatives take their duties to the most vulnerable and disadvantaged among us seriously, including their duties to judiciously spend public funds, they would not have voted to spend over $35,000 per car, especially given the current economic and financial realities of Nigeria.\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cThere is chronic poverty in Nigeria and many state governments are unable to pay salaries of workers and pensions. Unless the reliefs sought are granted, the House of Representatives will spend over N5 billion of public funds to buy the exotic cars at the expense of many Nigerians living in poverty and misery.\u201d<br \/>\nThe plaintiffs are asking the court to determine \u201cWhether the proposed plan and resolution by the House of Representatives to buy 400 exotic cars for principal officers and members amounting to over Five Billion Naira in total, is not in breach of Section 57[4] of the Public Procurement Act 2007, the oath of office, and Paragraph 1 of Code of Conduct for Public Officers [Fifth Schedule Part 1] of the Nigerian Constitution of 1999 [as amended].\u201d<br \/>\nThe suit, filed on behalf of SERAP and the concerned Nigerians by their lawyers Kolawole Oluwadare and Opeyemi Owolabi, read in part: \u201cMembers of the House of Representatives are either unaware of the constitutional and statutory provisions on their fiduciary duties and judicious use of public funds or deliberately glossing over these provisions.\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cIt is also apparent that, besides elevating their personal interests over and above the public interests, members of the House of Representatives have shown insensitivity to the plight of Nigerians, thereby violating section 14 (2)(b) of the Nigerian Constitution of 1999, to the effect that the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government and its institutions.\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cIt is public knowledge that members of the House of Representatives receive huge sums of money as monthly allowances and severance pay on conclusion of their respective terms at the National Assembly. It is rational that many Nigerians are calling for a review downward of the sum proposed to buy cars for members.\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cThere is no better time for any government\/public institution to take issues of security and welfare\/wellbeing of Nigerians seriously due to rampant kidnapping, banditry and terrorism in many parts of the country than now.\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cThis case raises issues of public interests, national interest, public concern, social justice, good governance, transparency and accountability.\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cThe House of Representatives during an executive session held on 5th February, 2020 reportedly passed a resolution that 400 Toyota Camry 2020 cars be purchased as official vehicles for 360 members and other persons, including top management staff, Chief of Staff to the two presiding officers, as well as some of their special advisers and assistants.\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cAbout Three Billion was voted to buy cars for members of the House of Representatives in 2016. The sum of N128 billion was budgeted and allocated to the National Assembly in the approved 2019 national budget.\u201d<br \/>\nThe plaintiffs are seeking the following reliefs:<br \/>\nA DECLARATION\u00a0that the plan and resolution to buy 400 Toyota Camry 2020 cars for members of the House of Representatives at the estimated cost of $35,130:00 per car is in breach of Section 57[4] of the Public Procurement Act 2007, Paragraph 1, Code of Conduct for Public Officers [Fifth Schedule Part 1] of the Constitution of Nigeria 1999 and Oath of Office [Seventh Schedule] of the Constitution<br \/>\nA DECLARATION\u00a0that the sum of $35,130 per car proposed and voted to buy 400 Toyota Camry 2020 cars for members of the House of Representatives is a breach of the Defendants\u2019 solemn constitutional obligations to know and follow constitutional oaths and other constitutional and statutory provisions governing their conduct, including their duty of care to Nigerians to faithfully protect and defend the Constitution and improve the lives, well-being and welfare of Nigerians<br \/>\nAN ORDER OF THE COURT\u00a0restraining and stopping the National Assembly Service Commission from releasing the money to the House of Representatives until an assessment of the impact of the spending on critical sectors like education, security, health, clean water and safe roads is carried out in the public interest in accordance with their constitutional oaths of office and constitutional provisions<br \/>\nAN ORDER OF THE COURT\u00a0restraining and stopping all members of the House of Representatives, their assistants, agents, assign or such other person acting on their behalf from demanding or receiving the sum of $35,130 per car for purchase of 400 Toyota Camry 2020 cars until an assessment of the impact of the spending on critical sectors like education, security, health, clean water and safe roads is carried out in the public interest in accordance with constitutional provisions<br \/>\nAND FOR SUCH FURHTER ORDER(S)that the Honourable Court may deem fit to make in the circumstance of this suit<br \/>\nNo date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.<br \/>\nBy <strong>serap-nigeria.org<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and 192 concerned Nigerians have filed a lawsuit asking the Federal High Court in Abuja to \u201crestrain and stop Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, Speaker of the House of Representatives and all members of the House from spending an estimated N5.04 billion to buy 400 exotic cars for principal officers and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":18844,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[1100,1101,351],"class_list":["post-24791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-400-cars","tag-reps","tag-serap"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24791\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}