Presidency Denies Buying 200 CARS For First Ladies' Summit
ABUJA, July 25, (THEWILL) - The Presidency has described as “utterly false and misleading,” a report in Wednesday’s edition of the Daily Trust Newspaper to the effect that the Federal Government has purchased 200 new “exotic” cars for the African First Ladies Summit, scheduled to formally open in Abuja tomorrow.
It noted that the African First Ladies Peace Mission (AFLPM), which is holding its summit in Abuja, is a non-governmental organisation whose activities are funded by stakeholders and members of the private sector who support and identify with its objectives.
“In accordance with its modus operandi, the AFLPM set up several committees, including a finance committee to raise funds and sponsorship for the organisation of its Abuja Summit,” stated a release to THEWILL signed by Dr. Reuben Abati, special adviser to the president on media and publicity.
“As part of its own contributions to the successful hosting of the summit by the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, Coscharis Motors Ltd offered to provide some cars for the event at no cost to either the organisers or the Federal Government of Nigeria.”
According to the release, an agreement had been signed by the committee and Coscharis Motors that all cars will be returned to the company after the summit. It added that, as indicated in the body of the report, the editors of Daily Trust were apparently aware that there were no facts to support the claim in their banner headline that the Federal Government bought the cars in question.
“Daily Trust admits in the report that it could not confirm if the cars were ‘bought outright or hired,’ yet it went ahead to publish the totally unsubstantiated headline — ‘FG BUYS 200 CARS FOR FIRST LADIES SUMMIT,’” the release lamented, saying “it is highly regrettable that the editors of the Daily Trust rushed to publish a completely erroneous report, the falsity of which should have been apparent to them.”
The statement further described “their very unprofessional and unethical decision to publish the unverifiable allegation” as another attempt to “incite public anger against the Presidency and the Federal Government.”