These agencies, said to be notorious for snubbing the national assembly, may get arrest warrants if they fail to respond by Thursday
The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Bank of Industry (BOI), and the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) are prominent among a list of federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) that risk being issued with warrant of arrests over consistent snub of the national assembly.
Others are the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAuGF), Ministry of Transport, Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), Ministry of Education, the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), Ministry of Women Affairs, Nigeria Communication Satellite Limited (NigComsat), the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Police Service Commission (PSC), Nigerian Immigration Service, and the National University Commission (NUC).
Irked by the consistent disregard to legislative resolutions and invitations by the House of Representatives Committee on Legislative Compliance, Parliament Reports gathered the relevant authority of the House has summoned these agencies to appear on Thursday or face possible arrest.
This latest summon letters, issued last week and sighted exclusively by Parliament Reports have been dispatched to the various defaulting entities. As of the time of filing this report, only one of the affected agencies had responded to the invitation. A source familiar with the matter confirmed to Parliament Reports that any of the MDAs that fails to respond by Thursday this week may face stern consequences, including the issuance of arrest warrants.
This is not the first time the National Assembly (NASS) is expressing strong displeasure with disregard of its resolutions and invitations, and threatened sanctions on recalcitrant MDAs of the federal government.
Each plenary day, motions are debated from which resolutions containing demands on various MDAs are made.
Parliament Reports had earlier reported that since the beginning of the 10th assembly, only 15 percent of MDAs have complied with resolutions from the Senate, while the House of Representatives recorded an even lower compliance rate of about 5 percent. This disregard persists despite the fact that these agencies are established by the enactments of the NASS to serve public interest.
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Also recall that sometime last year, chairman of the senate committee on legislative compliance, Sen. Garba Maidoki (PDP, Kebbi South) called for stronger collaboration between his committee and stakeholders, underscoring the need for coordinated efforts to ensure that MDAs adhere to legislative directives.
The continuous disregard by MDAs to appear before the NASS has several adverse effects as it undermines the authority of the legislature, weakening the principles of separation of powers, diminishes public confidence in government institutions, as it suggests a lack of accountability and transparency.
Non-compliance by MDAs often suggests an attempt to avoid scrutiny by parliament. Many MDAs fail to provide detailed reports on budget performance, leading to poor accountability in public resource management.
If left unchecked, this trend could hamper the national assembly’s ability to perform its oversight functions effectively and could encourage corrupt practices by MDAs.
