The House of Representatives has commenced taking delivery of the Toyota Camry 2020 model cars acquired for its members as official cars, also known as utility vehicles.

Our reporter saw some of the expensive cars at a number of parking lots within the National Assembly Complex, on Thursday, March 26th, 2020.

The legislators, who held a closed-door session on Wednesday, February 5th, 2020, had resolved to buy 400 pieces of Toyota Camry 2020 model cars.

However, the House has not publicly disclosed the cost of each car, since the supply contract was learnt was not awarded to any accredited Toyota dealer.

Our reporter observed that the House acquired the V6 Limited Edition variant of the car.

Even though the Chairman of the Committee on House Services, Mr. Wale Raji, confirmed the delivery of the cars, he declined to respond to our correspondent’s further inquiries.

The cars, which are properties of the National Assembly, are traditionally auctioned to the lawmakers after four years.

A check on Toyota’s website showed that each Camry 2020 model, depending on the variant, has a price tag that range from US$25,000 to US $35,000. That of course, excludes shipping cost and customs duties, which amount to approximately 100% of the actual cost of each car.

For example, the variant with higher specification, which is usually the preferred choice of lawmakers, could cost tax payers a huge sum of money. Toyota vehicles within this range are: XLE at $29,455, XLE V6 at $34,580, XSE at $30,005 and XSE V6 at $35,130.

Already, about fourteen (14) Toyota Land Cruiser Prado sports utility vehicles had already been given out to presiding officers, as well as other principal officers and chairmen of select House committees.

Some lawmakers Flavision contacted on Thursday, March 26th, 2020 said no vehicle had been delivered to them in “the first batch”.

A lawmaker who spoke to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity, for fear of retribution, told Flavision that the four hundred (400) saloon cars would be allocated to each of the three hundred and sixty (360) members and some top management staff, Chiefs of Staff to the two presiding officers, as well as some of their special assistants and advisers.

The member of the House went further to explain that new members who didn’t get committee appointments would benefit from the first batch of the vehicle deliveries.

The source said,

I was told 100 have already arrived and they are sharing them to new members who are not chairmen and deputy chairmen (of committees). The next batch will be for returning (ranking) members who are neither chairmen nor deputy chairmen. The last batch will go to ranking member with appointments.

The Committee on House Services and the National Assembly Management, led by the Clerk to the National Assembly, Mohammed Sani-Omolori, had set up a joint committee to monitor the acquisition, verification and distribution to the lawmakers.

The Committee on House Services, which also exists in the Senate, operates as the protocol and welfare department.

The joint committee was constituted, following allegations by some lawmakers that the National Assembly had become a “dumping ground” for refurbished and smuggled vehicles.

Justin Nwosu

Justin Nwosu is the founder and publisher of Flavision. His core interest is in writing unbiased news about Nigeria in particular and Africa in general. He’s a strong adherent of investigative journalism, with a bent on exposing corruption, abuse of power and societal ills.