Senator Neda Imansuen, representing Edo South Senatorial District on the platform of the Labour Party (LP), clarified that rejecting the N160 million luxury Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) provided for each senator would not have made a significant impact.
He explained that with only eight LP members in the Senate, their refusal would not have changed the decision, as the majority would have proceeded with the purchase despite public criticism.
Imansuen, who also serves as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions, stated that if the matter were brought to the floor of the house, LP senators would definitely vote against it.
He emphasized that as a minority party in the house, LP members could express their views, but the majority would ultimately have their way.
Imansuen dismissed rumors of his planned defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC) as a tactic by the opposition party in the state to create confusion within the LP.
“I want to say that I have not received any SUV vehicle and none has been offered to me. However, we are in democracy, and in a parliament, there is a catchphrase that says the majority will have their way and the minority will have their say.
“We can only say what we believe is the right thing to do in the parliament; we are just eight senators amid 109 senators. So those who have zeroed into Labour Party senators I think it is very unfair.
“Assuming 109 vehicles are given to Senators and of the 109, eight rejected it, can you please tell me what significance that will be to the budget or to the overall image of the National Assembly? But what I can tell is that the Labour Party is not the proponent of this and we have made some inquiries and these seem to be what it is every four years,” he explained.
According to him, “What people don’t know is that senators are offered the right of first refusal to buy it and if you don’t buy it, they take it back from you. It is supposed to be a working vehicle for senators. If we were to vote on it today, the eight Labour party senators will vote against it but it doesn’t stop it because the 101 senators will vote yes. Even if we reject it, who takes it, are they going to return it back to the manufacturers?”
Regarding the rumored defection to the ruling APC, the senator stated that he heard about it like everyone else, and assured that he had no intention of joining the APC or any other party.
