The Senate has issued a stern warning to key government agencies, including the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), over their persistent failure to honour legislative summons.
Speaking at a press briefing on Tuesday – today, February 4 – the chairman, Senate Committee on Public Accounts, Sen. Aliyu Wadada, said going forward, the committee will invoke the powers of the National Assembly to issue a warrant of arrest on erring public officials.
He declared that no individual or institution is above the law, adding that there must be accountability in governance.
“Nobody in Nigeria is above the law. We are all supposed to operate under the laws guiding our various engagements as citizens of Nigeria. If the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, can set aside his enormous commitments to come to the National Assembly as a mark of respect, I wonder how any appointee will think they are too busy to appear before the people’s parliament,” he said.
The committee expressed frustration over repeated instances where government officials ignored invitations to appear before its committees.
It specifically called out the Chairman of the FIRS, noting that he had received more than eight invitations but deliberately refused to appear or respond to communications.
“Since the inception of this committee, we have sent more than eight invitations to the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, and he has intentionally refused to appear. Not only that, he has also failed to respond to our communications. If he truly shares the dream of the Renewed Hope agenda, why is he avoiding this committee? If he does not respond to the next invitation, a warrant of arrest will be issued.”
The Senate also criticised the NNPCL for consistently failing to appear before its committee despite multiple invitations, accusing the national oil company of providing vague and insufficient responses to inquiries regarding financial transactions.
“NNPC has never appeared before this committee. The few responses they have provided contain incomplete or misleading information. The next time they refuse to appear, we will issue a warrant of arrest and call on the President to take action. The line is now drawn,” Wadada declared.
Other agencies cited for non-compliance include the Nigeria Customs Service, which Sen. Wadada said had billions in unaccounted funds flagged in the Auditor General’s report.
The Senate lamented that repeated attempts to summon Customs officials for explanations had been ignored.
“On the side of the Auditor General’s report, Nigeria Customs Service has billions to be accounted for. We have made every effort to bring them to the table to explain these financial discrepancies, but nothing has changed. If they continue to ignore our invitations, we will take all necessary measures to enforce compliance,” the Senate Public Accounts Committee Chairman further warned.
The Senate also raised serious concerns about the CBN’s handling of over ₦30 trillion in Ways and Means advances and the additional ₦6 trillion in interest charges that have accumulated under questionable circumstances.
“The CBN debited the Consolidated Revenue Fund account and credited the Treasury Single Account with over ₦30 trillion. Instead of charging the interest to the Treasury Bill account, they went ahead and charged the Consolidated Revenue Fund, accumulating an extra ₦6 trillion in interest. This is unacceptable!
“Despite numerous correspondences with the CBN, the Office of the Minister of Finance, the Attorney General, and the Debt Management Office, nothing has changed. Every month, the CBN is still charging ₦650 billion to the Consolidated Revenue Fund’s account. We need answers now,” Wadada declared.
Similarly, he said the Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT) had been invited over nine times to respond to the Auditor General’s queries but never made an appearance.
Ditto for the Nigeria Police Force, which Wadada said has consistently failed to honour summons, despite the fact that they don’t take it lightly when others refuse to appear before them.
“The Nigeria Police Force is quick to act when they invite people and those people fail to show up. Why then do they refuse to appear before this committee? The public deserves to know what is going on,” he said.
Other agencies under scrutiny include the FCT Internal Revenue Service, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, and the Nigerian Mining Cadastral Office.
However, the chairman reiterated that these summons were not meant to antagonise any agency but to foster transparency and accountability in governance.
“These queries are not indictments. They are based on the understanding of the Auditor General. When you come before us, we will review the queries, and where they do not hold water, we will strike them out. But if we are not convinced, necessary actions will be taken. No one is above the law,” Wadada insisted.
