‘Govt Officials Must Use Vehicles Assembled In Nigeria’ – Ireti Kingibe

The senator representing the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Ireti Kingibe, has said government officials should be mandated to use only vehicles assembled in Nigeria.

The lawmaker submitted that if she is allowed to make any change, she will insist government officials use Nigerian-assembled vehicles.

Speaking about the high cost of governance in the country, Naija News gathered that the lawmaker, while featuring on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday, argued that “we cannot continue like this.”

Kingibe, who said she rides “a 1986 car,” explained that certain commodities, such as tinned tomatoes, should not be imported.

Responding to what she would do differently, Kingibe said, “I would insist that all government vehicles must have been assembled in Nigeria. That would go a long way to improving productivity in Nigeria.

“For one thing, Innoson, perhaps Volkswagen and Peugeot, and maybe even Toyota might decide that it’s worth their while to set up an assembly plant here.” 

She explained further that the public would have “a short period of some kind of inconvenience,” but the developments would cause the dollar to fall to the naira and help grow the economy.

Speaking further about how Labour Party senators were allegedly criticised during the recent screening of ministerial nominees, she said, “Whenever people talk about us Labour senators, they’re only eight of us. And in a democracy, the minority will have their say, and at the end of the day, the majority will have their way.

“We will make changes that we can make, but we’re also new in the Senate. We’re trying to find our feet; we’re trying to know the run of the place. So, they have to give us a little bit of time to see the impact that we can make as well.”