The House of Representatives, on Monday, threatened to sanction Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of Federal Government that refused to honour legislative summon in accordance with the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
The Speaker, Rep Femi Gbajabiamila, handed down the warning in Abuja while declaring open, a the public hearing organised by the House Committee Public Accounts (PAC), on the need to investigate the ‘deliberate and reckless refusal by non-Treasury and Partially Funded Agencies to render their audited Accounts covering the period of 2014-2018 to the Auditor General of the federation’.
Rep Gbajabiamila, who was represented by Deputy Leader of the House, Rep Peter Akpatson, made it clear that henceforth, it would no longer be business as usual as the Ninth National Assembly would go all out to compel the defaulting MDAs to adhere strictly to the relevant provisions of the constitution and statutes to account for public funds appropriated to them.
ALSO READ:Â Ekiti gets first female Head of Service
Welcoming stakeholders to the Public Hearing, the Chairman of the Committee, Rep Wole Oke, who lamented the lukewarm attitude of the MDAs in rendering accounts of the Funds allocated to them over the years rolled out the long list of the numbers of MDAs involved.
Rep Oke declared that the Parliament would have no option than to publish the names of defaulting MDAs in the pages of the National Dailies as a wake-up call.
According to him, “the ninth Assembly is not a ‘Yes’ Assembly or ‘rubber stamp’ one, we will go all out to make all the MDAs surrender accurate accounts appropriated to them over the years, it very disheartening when some Heads of the MDAs will be dodging the Parliament when it comes to rendering of accounts, henceforth, it is not going be business as usual.”
The investigation was at the instance of the House following a Motion moved and adopted by Hon Sa’ad Abdullahi, who is the Deputy Chairman PAC, representing Ningi / Warji Bauchi State.
Some of the defaulting Agencies at the public hearing are: Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS), National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Nigeria Post Office (NIPOST), Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency(NDLEA) among others.
and then