The Senate on Thursday warned that heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies and Government-Owned Enterprises who fail to honour invitations from its committees would henceforth face constitutional and legislative sanctions.
The resolution followed a debate sparked by the repeated refusal of several MDAs and GOEs to appear before the Senate Committee on Finance chaired by Senator Sani Musa.
Following the debate, the Senate, presided over by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, unanimously adopted a series of resolutions directing all agencies of government to comply with invitations from its committees or face sanctions in line with the Constitution and other extant laws.
Leading the debate, Senator Abdul Ningi said the National Assembly could no longer continue pleading with government agencies to perform what he described as their constitutional obligation.
According to him, the persistent refusal of some agencies to appear before legislative committees amounts to a direct affront to the authority of the National Assembly and poses a threat to Nigeria’s democracy.
“We must start by calling their attention that this is the last warning. Secondly, we will write to the President to inform him that this arm of government is not being respected. Thirdly, no budgetary allocation to any organisation that refuses to come,” Ningi declared.
Contributing, Senator Adams Oshiomhole (Edo North) absolved President Bola Tinubu of responsibility for the actions of the agencies, insisting that the blame rested on the heads of the defaulting institutions.
He argued that many of the agencies had also failed to comply with the Fiscal Responsibility Act and Treasury circulars, describing their conduct as harmful to the nation’s economy.
“Mr. President should not be bothered about this matter. It is an indictment on the agencies that did not comply with the Fiscal Responsibility Act or Treasury circulars. I consider this an act of economic sabotage,” Oshiomhole said.
Senator Oji Uzor Kalu (Abia North) maintained that the Senate already possessed sufficient constitutional powers to compel attendance and should exercise them without seeking intervention from the Executive.
He stressed that legislative oversight is the exclusive responsibility of the National
Assembly and cited Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution as empowering the Senate to enforce compliance.
“This is not the job of the President. Our job is to do oversight. Sections 88 and 89 are there. If they don’t come, we raise a warrant,” Kalu said.
