The former Education Minister, Oby Ezekwesili on Monday reacted to the revelation from the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), which claimed that the Nigerian Senate inflated the cost of buying Toyota Land Cruiser Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) for its members.
Speaking through posts on her social media handle, Ezekwesili described the act as wicked demanding that Citizen occupy the National Assembly.
Her reactions: “Governance has a Supply and a Demand side. For 50+years in Nigeria, only the Supply Side was active and so learned the bad ways of Monopolists.
“Monopolists have no incentive to be efficient with product/price since there is no consequence. Sole Supply Side, Governance acts same.”
The former minister stressed that until citizens activate the demand side of governance and pressure the supply side to be accountable and effective, good governance may never be realized in Nigeria.
“The Senate needs to hear from as many of us – Citizens – as possible that we stopped laughing at their expensive jokes a long time ago,” she noted.
Please find her posts below:
The @NGRSenate needs to hear from as many of us- Citizens- as possible that “WE stopped laughing at their expensive jokes a long time ago”.
— Oby Ezekwesili (@obyezeks) April 18, 2016
The series of grating actions of @NGRSenate is not helped by the fact that it almost now seems like a Retirement Home of Ex-Governors. #SAD
— Oby Ezekwesili (@obyezeks) April 18, 2016
I join the NLC in DEMANDING! Senators of the
@NGRSenate that got the jeeps of inflated price must RETURN them NOW. https://t.co/956WI2Wuwb
— Oby Ezekwesili (@obyezeks) April 18, 2016
In a statement made available to The Nation in Abuja and signed by its President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, the NLC accused the Senate of spending money without appropriation when it publicly admitted that its standing committees cannot carry out their functions due to paucity of funds.
The congress said while the senate purchased each of the cars for N35.1 million, the actual market price of the vehicles stands at N17 million.