Sen. Yemi Adaramodu, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, has said individual senators are not responsible for legal issues arising from the procurement of official vehicles for lawmakers.
Adaramodu (APC-Ekiti) stated that senators had no role in the procurement process and should not be held liable for decisions taken by the National Assembly bureaucracy.
Reacting to a recent court judgment on the purchase of official vehicles and related allowances for members of the National Assembly, the lawmaker said senators were neither parties to the procurement exercise nor involved in the acquisition process.
He explained that the procurement of official vehicles was handled solely by the administrative structure of the National Assembly, which determines, purchases and allocates vehicles for legislative duties and committee assignments.
“The bureaucracy determines and provides official vehicles for committee work and legislative assignments. No vehicle is registered in the name of any senator,” he said.
Adaramodu said the vehicles remain government property throughout a senator’s tenure and are only meant to support official legislative responsibilities.
He added that lawmakers could only purchase such vehicles after leaving office through approved government procedures and payment arrangements.
The senator, who represents Ekiti South Senatorial District, maintained that any legal issues surrounding the procurement process should be directed at the relevant administrative departments responsible for the transactions.
“Senators were not taken to court. Procurement is handled by the appropriate departments within the National Assembly bureaucracy. Legislators have no role in the purchasing process,” he said.
He reiterated that the National Assembly follows established administrative and procurement procedures, adding that lawmakers should not be blamed for decisions made by the institution’s bureaucracy.
Report states that the Federal High Court in Lagos had declared unlawful the National Assembly’s N110 billion vehicle procurement and allowance schemes, ruling that the expenditure breached procurement laws, constitutional provisions and public trust principles.
The suit, filed by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and marked FHC/L/CS/1606/2023, was instituted against Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas on behalf of themselves and members of both chambers.
In his judgment delivered on May 6, Justice Bogoro ordered the National Assembly leadership to ensure that future procurement and public spending complied with due process, transparency, accountability and value-for-money principles.
The court held that lawmakers, as beneficiaries of the expenditure they approved, were placed in a conflict-of-interest situation.
“The beneficiaries of the expenditure are the very officials approving it, and the expenditure confers direct pecuniary and material benefits. This, to my mind, constitutes a case of self-dealing and conflict of interest,” the judge ruled.
The court also noted Nigeria’s economic challenges, stating that allocating N110 billion for lawmakers’ benefits amid widespread hardship reflected a failure to prioritise national interest.
The judge further held that the expenditure undermined the fiduciary responsibility of public officers and was inconsistent with the oath of office taken by members of the National Assembly.
Source: NAN
