The Senate on Wednesday resolved to summon the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and about 40 other Ministries, Departments and Agencies over their alleged failure to honour invitations to account for public funds.
The resolution followed a motion by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Sani Musa, who accused several government agencies of frustrating legislative oversight by refusing to appear before the committee investigating revenue remittances, operating surpluses and compliance with the Fiscal Responsibility Act and other financial laws.
Musa said the committee was acting within its constitutional powers under Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which empower the National Assembly to investigate the finances and administration of public institutions.
“As part of our constitutional mandate under Sections 88 and 89 of the Constitution, the Senate Committee on Finance conducts periodic investigative hearings to examine the financial operations of Government-Owned Enterprises and Ministries, Departments and Agencies,” he said.
He explained that the exercise was aimed at scrutinising internally generated revenue, stamp duty collections where applicable, operating surpluses and statutory remittances into the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
The senator, however, lamented that despite repeated invitations, many agencies had either refused to appear or ignored the committee altogether.
“More concerning is that some have taken the position that they are under no obligation to appear before the committee or submit the requested information, notwithstanding the clear constitutional and statutory powers vested in the National Assembly to conduct oversight over the finances and administration of public institutions,” Musa said.
He warned that such actions undermined the constitutional authority of the National Assembly.
“These developments constitute a serious challenge to the effective discharge of the committee’s oversight responsibilities and undermine the constitutional authority of the Senate. If left unchecked, they could erode legislative oversight, weaken fiscal accountability and diminish transparency in the management of public re
Musa also accused some revenue-generating agencies of violating the Fiscal Responsibility Act and the Finance Act 2022 by retaining government revenue instead of remitting it into the Federation’s coffers.
“These are agencies that collect revenue for government, and the Fiscal Responsibility Act as well as the Finance Act 2022 direct that all Ministries, Departments and Agencies must comply with the financial regulations on remittances.
“Most of them don’t comply. Instead of remitting what is required by law, they retain the larger percentage of the revenue and remit only a fraction. We need to call them to order.”
According to him, some agencies had been withholding funds due to the Federal Government since 2020.
“We will request that they come for scrutiny so that the Fiscal Responsibility Commission can carry out reconciliation, after which we will require them to refund the money as quickly as possible. Some have been holding these funds since 2020.”
Contributing, Senate President Godswill Akpabio dismissed claims by some agencies that Senate committees lacked the authority to summon them.
He said, “What we are talking about is that they are saying the Senate Committee does not have the power to invite them. But the Senate has the power.
“The National Assembly has the power. We have the powers enshrined in the Constitution to invite them.”
He directed the Finance Committee to return with a substantive motion empowering the Senate to compel the defaulting agencies to attend.
“Come with a substantive motion. One of the prayers should be to compel them to appear before the National Assembly through your committee.”
Akpabio also warned that agencies that continued to ignore the National Assembly would face constitutional consequences.
He added, “If eventually they do not appear, we know the appropriate action to take.”
The agencies listed for summons include the CBN, NNPCL, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Nigerian Civil AAgency, Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, Nigerian Railway Corporation, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission and Transmission Company of Nigeria
Others are the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation, Nigerian Export-Import Bank, Nigerian Export Promotion Council, NNPCL Retail Limited, Nigerian Commodity Exchange, Nigerian Ports Authority, Standards Organisation of Nigeria, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority and Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board.
Also included are the National Examinations Council, National Inland Waterways Authority, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited, Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority, Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Nigerian Meteorological Agency, National Insurance Commission, Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund and the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, among others.
The Senate subsequently adopted the motion by voice vote, paving the way for the formal summons of the affected agencies as part of efforts to strengthen fiscal accountability and legislative oversight of public funds.
The PUNCH journalist, Adebayo, has over 20 years of experience covering politics, health, metro, entertainment and properties
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