On Monday, there were protests in Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, as young people protested the National Assembly members’ allocation of sport utility vehicles.
The youths who gathered in large numbers in the Lagos neighborhood of Ikeja held placards and chanted, among other things, “Fund hospitals, not SUVs,” “Pay living wage, not SUVs,” “Return the SUVs Now,” and “Fund education, not SUVs.”
As stated by the demonstrators, “Lawmakers buying SUVs with public funds is insensitive when the majority are suffering.”
One of the protesters, Juwon Sanyaolu said, “Workers are still battling for a living wage as the N33,000 minimum wage is not sustainable but we have people at NASS taking delivery of exotic vehicles with about N160bn. Students are dropping out of school because of costly fees. It’s insensitive. They must return the SUVs and fund education.”
He further said, “They’re the ones receiving hardship allowance. What hardship are they facing? What hard work are they doing?”
In Abuja, some youths also gathered at the Unity Fountain to protest.
“This is the right time for Nigerian people to stand up for their rights and say enough is enough.
“Fuel is now N650 per litre but senators are buying SUVs worth N160m while people are suffering,” a protester Emmanuel Larry said in Abuja.
On Sunday, reports emerged that members of the Green Chamber had commenced receiving their SUVs, while the legislators in the Red Chamber are expected to receive the first batch of their SUVs this week.
The remaining batch of SUVs for lawmakers is anticipated to arrive before December.
These actions come after the leadership of the National Assembly announced their decision to procure imported SUVs for each lawmaker and bulletproof vehicles for principal officers.
This move has sparked significant criticism among Nigerians, leading to the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project filing an application in a Federal High Court in Lagos to halt the lawmakers from taking delivery of the SUVs until the organization’s applications for injunction are heard and resolved.