“My OFFICIAL CAR”: The Corruption of Vehicle Privileges in Nigeria

Recently, I flew to Abuja – Nigeria’s federal capital to do something, for the return trip out of Abuja, my friend, a Director with a federal agency whom I visited after work, offered to take me to the airport the next morning. We were talking about our very corrupt system and how we need to take deliberate steps to stem our path to self-destruction.

I raised an issue that often bothers me: the free use of government official vehicles for private purposes. My friend thought that was an insignificant corruption issue in Nigeria.

I countered him by analyzing how it is a huge drain on our resources when thousands of vehicles are used for private purposes. I immediately told him I hope it was not his official car taking me to the airport tomorrow. He still thought that was the least of our corruption problems.

The next morning, he told me how he reflected on our discussion overnight, and decided to send his private car rather than the official car. But the driver was a government driver. I was happy that he at least, he appreciated the ethical issues we discussed the previous day.

All too often, we use and enjoy public properties with the most extreme impunity. Let me just focus here on how we abuse official vehicles, especially those that belong to the government.

Let me start with a bit of shame history. In 1996, Ibrahim Sani Abacha, son of Nigeria’s ruler Sani Abacha died in a plane crash. The plane was one of the planes on the Presidential fleet of aircrafts. The guy died with his group of friends. This was a gross abuse. He had no business flying our Presidential jet.

A couple of years ago in Sokoto, I saw a young teenager cruising to buy fuel in a Toyota Hilux truck belonging to (and clearly labelled so) the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) on a Saturday. I was outraged inside me.

Often during holiday seasons like Christmas and Eid or Sallah periods, we come across convoys of staff cars clearly belonging to the police, or Immigrations, or Customs, and other such government agencies, shipping whole large families to their ‘home towns’ for holidays. Some of the cars and drivers stay the entire holiday with their bosses’ families – when their salaries are paid by the government.

We cruise in government vehicles at night and outside office hours, to parties, to private weddings. It is wrong.

We cruise in government vehicles to church, to leisure and weekend trips that are completely private. It is not done anywhere! Let families quietly and privately travel to their hometowns for vacations. Let people drive themselves to church or Friday mosque in their private vehicles.

In Abuja, we see how government drivers ship wives of government officials to Wuse market, to Banex Plaza and other places for private shopping activities. Drivers park and wait for long in these markets and shopping complexes, during office hours. Some of the drivers go on to carry bags and wares and follow wives and children about the market, until they finish their shopping.

This is not right. These are the things that drain the commonwealth. This is not done in any sane government.

In Yola, Adamawa State, I noticed an ambulance of the State Specialist Hospital daily and routinely drop off children in Aliyu Musdafa Academy – near the Catholic Cathedral, morning and afternoon. It is so everywhere in Nigeria. Government vehicles and government drivers are used to drop off and pick up children from school. This is a form corruption that drains the commonwealth.

Years back in Kubwa - Abuja, a fellow with the federal fire service routinely drove a fire service van to his regular joint, weekdays and weekends. This is the same service that does not effectively respond to emergency calls.

Funerals, weddings, naming ceremonies, birthday ceremonies etc are private ceremonies and officials should completely use private means to commute to such events.

Ideally, the use of government, or official vehicles should be governed by strict regulations and guidelines. No official vehicle should be seen moving outside of official hours, unless it is shipping office people to or from official duty afield. In such cases, they leave very early to reach their official destination or are returning late from their official destination.

No official vehicle should be seen traveling during weekends or public holidays, unless it is travelling with officials going to or returning from official field work. No official vehicle should be seen dropping off or picking children from schools.

Sometime during the time of Olusegun Obasanjo (2003-2007), it was Nasir El-Rufai that led some public service reforms that tried to address this kind of abuses through monetizing the official car benefits for Directors of the federal departments. The reforms were quickly reversed after the death of Yar’adua, Obasanjo’s successor.

I call on the Government of Mohammadu Buhari to end this huge drain on our commonwealth so that we can have resources to address other pressing needs.