Senator representing Anambra Central, Victor Umeh, has defended the provision of official vehicles to members of the National Assembly, saying lawmakers need them to effectively carry out their responsibilities.
The senator spoke on AIT’s Political Platform on Monday, where he addressed the growing public debate over the cost of governance and the benefits attached to elected officials.
Responding to questions on whether he received an official vehicle from the National Assembly, Umeh argued that such support is necessary for the discharge of legislative duties.
“Why won’t I get a vehicle for performing official function? Are you not seeing people in the executive arm of government having fleet of vehicles?” he said.
Umeh maintained that lawmakers are often unfairly criticised over official entitlements that are also available to other arms of government. According to him, a senator having a single official vehicle should not be seen as an abuse of public resources.
“Why is National Assembly singled out for lampooning? You cannot be faulted for having one official vehicle, one, not two, not fleet. I’m not a principal officer in the National Assembly, I’m just a senator representing my senatorial district, and I’m entitled to an official car to do my work. If the only way Nigeria can be good is for senators to be trekking to work, well, I don’t think we’re being serious,” Umeh said.
The lawmaker stressed that he was not defending luxury or excess, but what he described as a basic working tool for public officials. He insisted that no senator should be condemned for using one official vehicle to carry out legislative assignments and constituency engagements.
Umeh also reacted to the recent court victory secured by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) over the National Assembly’s vehicle procurement and allowance scheme.
According to him, it is the responsibility of the organisation to enforce the judgment if it believes the ruling should be implemented.
“SERAP should go and execute the judgment. If you get a judgment, you have to enforce it against the persons it is directed,” he stated.
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