The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on Wednesday, came under heavy criticism over the approval of N1, 145,000,000 for the purchase and supply of 10 Toyota Land Cruiser vehicles to Niger Republic.
The revelation was made by an investigative journalist, David Hundeyin, who tweeted that he obtained a document from the Budget Office in Nigeria which showed that the President made the approval for the purchase of the vehicles to the neighbouring country.
Hundeyin also attached a picture of the document to validate the claim that the President approved the release of the money to a company, Kaura Motors Nigeria Limited, on February 28, 2022.
The document read in part, “Being release of funds in the sum of N1,145,000,000 to the office of the Accountant General of the Federation IFO Kaura Motors Nig. Limited for supply of 10 numbers Toyota Land Cruiser V8 Vehicles to Republic of Nigeria vide Mr. President approval on page 83 dated 28/02/2022.”
Defending the purchase of the vehicles, the Federal Government said that the move was to enable the country to safeguard its territory in the best interest of Nigeria’s security.
Fielding questions from journalists after the Federal Executive Council meeting on Wednesday, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, said it was not the first time Nigeria was supporting her neighbours.
She explained the President had a responsibility to take such decisions in the best interest of the country.
“This is not the first time that Nigeria has supported Niger, Cameroon or Chad, and the President makes an assessment as to what is required, based on the request of their President and such requests are approved and the interventions provided is to enhance their capacity to protect their own territory as it relates to security also to Nigeria,” Ahmed said.
