ABUJA— Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, representing Abia South senatorial district, yesterday, insisted that nobody approached the National Assembly with a request for a new presidential jet before the purchase was eventually made.
The Presidency had in August unveiled a new Airbus A330 purchased for President Bola Tinubu.
Following the new jet purchase, the Presidency faced many criticisms from Nigerians who felt the President prioritized his luxury while neglecting the economic hardship faced by the masses.
Presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga had in one of his explanations, said that what was purchased was not a new jet as was reported but a “refurbished jet.”
National Assembly members were not spared in the criticisms regarding the jet purchase, as many labelled them as rubber stamp easy approval of the Presidency’s request to purchase a new jet.
However, Senator Abaribe, who appeared on Channels Television’s Politics Today, yesterday, said such a request was never brought to the National Assembly.
He said: “I am in the National Assembly, but I can tell you for a fact that nobody, quote me, nobody brought anything to the National Assembly to say please approve this for purchase of a new plane.
“It was done without my knowledge, nobody brought anything. I never saw any document and I have always been in the National Assembly. Ask anyone, none.”
He said that the failure of the Presidency to approach the National Assembly with a request meant that part of the job of the legislator to be a check on the executive was not being efficiently carried out.
The lawmaker said he was worried that the public perceives the National Assembly members as rubber-stamped, noting that it was like that because the lawmakers feel that they have fought a lot without much, yet it has not yielded much to the public and tried to have some cooperation with the executive.
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