The Senate on Wednesday resolved to summon the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and about 40 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) over their alleged failure to honour invitations to explain issues relating to revenue remittances and management of public funds.
The decision followed a motion moved by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Sani Musa, who accused several government agencies of frustrating the National Assembly’s oversight functions by refusing to appear before the committee investigating revenue generation, operating surpluses and compliance with relevant financial laws.
Musa said the committee was acting within the powers granted to the National Assembly under Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which empower lawmakers 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.
According to him, the exercise focuses on the scrutiny of internally generated revenue, stamp duty collections, operating surpluses and statutory remittances into the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
The lawmaker, however, expressed concern that despite repeated invitations, several agencies had either failed to appear before the committee or ignored its requests for information.
“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 stated.
He warned that such actions posed a threat to accountability and transparency in public finance management.
“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,” he added.
Musa further alleged that some revenue-generating agencies were violating provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act and the Finance Act 2022 by retaining government revenues instead of remitting them as required by law.
“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,” he said.
The committee chairman disclosed that some agencies had allegedly withheld 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,” he said.
Contributing to the debate, President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, dismissed claims that Senate committees lacked the authority to summon public agencies.
“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 said.
He directed the Finance Committee to return with a substantive motion authorising the Senate to compel the affected agencies to appear before it.
“Come with a substantive motion. One of the prayers should be to compel them to appear before the National Assembly through your committee,” he said.
Akpabio also warned that agencies that continued to disregard invitations from the National Assembly would face appropriate constitutional sanctions.
“If eventually they do not appear, we know the appropriate action to take,” he added.
Among the agencies listed for summons are the CBN, NNPCL, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, Nigerian Railway Corporation.
Others are Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).
Also included 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.
Similarly, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), National Examinations Council (NECO), National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), are also included among many other MDAs.
Most of the MDAs have shunned
investigative hearing being on revenue remittances into the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federal Government by the MDAs.
(The Whistler)
