The Senate has commenced moves to compel the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and about 40 other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to appear before its Committee on Finance over alleged failures to account for government revenues and comply with statutory remittance obligations.
The decision followed a motion sponsored on Wednesday by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Sani Musa, who accused several government institutions of frustrating the National Assembly’s oversight functions by repeatedly ignoring invitations to appear before the committee.
Musa said the committee was carrying out its constitutional responsibility of scrutinising the financial activities of government agencies, including their internally generated revenues, operating surpluses and remittances into the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
“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 ongoing exercise was intended to assess compliance with the Fiscal Responsibility Act, the Finance Act and other financial regulations governing public institutions.
However, the senator lamented that several agencies had either declined to honour invitations or ignored requests to provide relevant financial records.
“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 continued refusal by public institutions to cooperate with the legislature could weaken accountability mechanisms and erode transparency in the management of public funds.
“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 resources.”
Musa further alleged that several revenue-generating agencies were violating financial laws by retaining government funds that should ordinarily be remitted into the Federation’s account.
“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, preliminary findings indicated that some agencies had been holding on to government revenues dating back to 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.”
Speaking during the debate, Senate President Godswill Akpabio dismissed claims by some agencies that Senate committees lacked the authority to summon them for investigations.
“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.”
Akpabio directed the Committee on Finance to present a substantive motion empowering the Senate to compel the defaulting agencies to honour the invitations.
“Come with a substantive motion. One of the prayers should be to compel them to appear before the National Assembly through your committee.”
He also warned that any agency that continued to ignore the legislature would face the full weight of constitutional sanctions.
“If eventually they do not appear, we know the appropriate action to take.”
Among the agencies listed for appearance before the Senate are the CBN, NNPCL, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, the Nigerian Railway Corporation, the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).
Others include 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, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, 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.
The motion was subsequently adopted by voice vote, paving the way for the formal issuance of summons to the affected institutions as the Senate intensifies efforts to enforce fiscal discipline, strengthen legislative oversight and ensure accountability in the management of public resources.
(Ripples)