President Muhammadu Buhari has turned down a proposal to buy new cars for his use, saying that he would stick to the vehicles former President Goodluck Jonathan left behind.
The proposal from the Aso Rock bureaucracy is for Buhari to approve the purchase of five customised armoured Mercedes Benz S-600 (V222) cars of about 400 million naira.
It was learnt that President Buhari rejected the proposal on Wednesday when he received briefings from the Permanent Secretary (State House), Mr Nebolisa Emodi.
The President has been receiving briefings from permanent secretaries since the beginning of the week on the activities of the ministries.
He directed that the proposal, which was first made to ex-President Jonathan, be dropped.
Jonathan had advised that the plan be left for Buhari to approve since it was made in the twilight of his administration and the cars would not be due for delivery until after he might have left the office.
Buhari, according to sources, told the Permanent Secretary that the cars left behind by the Jonathan administration were good enough for him.
He, however, approved the plan of the Permanent Secretary to reduce the operating costs of the State House and strengthen its Finance and Accounts Internal Control Mechanisms.
Buhari told him to capture all State House expenses within the approved budget to avoid the frequent recourse to “Presidential Intervention Funds” as this was rampant in the last administration.