The government of Nigeria led by President Muhammadu Buhari has confirmed that it purchased ten vehicles for Niger Republic.
The federal government gave the confirmation on Wednesday through the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed.
Speaking to newsmen after the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting in Abuja, Ahmed confirmed the purchase of ten vehicles valued at N1,145,000,000 for the Niger Republic.
This confirmation follows the outrage that greeted the leaked document about the purchase which was shared by popular Investigative Journalist, David Hundeyin, on his verified Twitter handle on Tuesday night.
A careful look at the document shows that it emanated from the country’s budget office indicating that President Buhari approved the funds for the purchase of 10 Toyota land Cruiser jeeps.
The document also revealed the account name and number to which the money was paid into.
However, Hundeyin stated that he went ahead to confirm the account details provided in the document and it belongs to an automobile dealer, Kaura Motors Nigeria Limited.
Defending the action of the federal government, Ahmed explained that Nigeria has a culture of assisting needy neighbours in the spirit of brotherhood.
She added that it would also help in dealing with insecurity.
In her words, “Let me just say that, over time, Nigeria has had to support its neighbours, especially immediate neighbours, to enhance their capacity to secure their countries as it relates to us.
“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.
The Minister added that while Nigerians have the right to question their leaders, she can’t question the decision of the President on the matter as he reserves the right to do what is best for the country.
She said: “Nigerians have a right to ask questions, but also the President has a responsibility to make an assessment of what is in the best interests of the country. And I cannot question that decision myself. I have said that this is not the first time that Nigeria as a country has provided intervention to our neighbors following an assessment that it is in the best interest of Nigeria to do so.”
