By GODWIN OTABONO
President Muhammadu Buhari has rejected an offer by the Federal Government to purchase five new armoured Mercedes Benz S-600 (V222) cars for his use.
The cars which total cost is put at about N400m were planned to be purchased by the State House.
A Presidency source told journalists on Thursday that Buhari got to know of the plan when the Permanent Secretary, State House, Mr. Nebolisa Emodi, was briefing him of his ministry’s activities on Wednesday.
Describing it as a waste of scarce resources, the source said Buhari told the permanent secretary that the cars he inherited from former President Goodluck Jonathan were good enough for him.
“I don’t need any new cars. The ones I am using now are just fine,” the source quoted the President as saying.
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 to our correspondent that Buhari had withheld approval for the purchase of the new cars.
