Lawmakers sued over luxury vehicles
Publish date: 09 September 2019
Issue Number: 840
Diary: IBA Legalbrief Africa
Category: Nigeria
A coalition of civil society groups has launched a lawsuit to block the purchase of luxury cars for lawmakers in the Nigerian Senate. The activists said in the lawsuit that spending $15.3m in Nigeria's present economic climate was 'unjust' and contradicted their oath on taking office to prioritise the welfare of citizens. The class action was brought forward by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, BudgIT and 6 721 citizens, including Bring Back our Girls campaigner and former presidential candidate Oby Ezekwesili. 'They can have official cars but why would they spend such an amount buying cars for 109 senators when more than half of Nigerians are living in abject poverty,' the group's spokesman Kola Oludare told CNN.