The Senate has threatened to invoke its constitutional powers against Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) that have refused to honour invitations by the Senate Committee on Finance for investigative hearings.
The warning followed a point of order raised by the Chairman of the Committee on Finance, Senator Sani Musa (APC, Niger East), during plenary on Wednesday.
Musa said the Committee conducts periodic investigative hearings under Sections 88 and 89 of the Constitution to examine the financial operations of Government-Owned Enterprises and MDAs.
“These engagements are aimed at assessing internally generated revenue, collections from stamp duties where applicable, operating surpluses, statutory remittances into the Consolidated Revenue Fund, and ensuring compliance with extant financial laws and regulations,” he said.
The lawmaker expressed concern that despite duly issued invitations, several agencies have either failed to appear or declined to appear 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 the development constitutes a serious challenge to oversight and undermines 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 said.
Musa accused some revenue-generating agencies of violating the Fiscal Responsibility Act and the Finance Act 2022 by retaining the larger percentage of revenue and remitting only a fraction to government.
He listed defaulting agencies to include the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN), Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), and National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON).
Others are the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria Export-Import Bank (NEXIM), Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB), National Examinations Council (NECO), Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC, Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Federal Medical Centre, Jabi, etc.
“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,” he said.
“We need to call them to order. 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.”
The Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau Jibrin, APC, Kano North, threw his weight behind the committee, saying: “If they don’t appear before the committee, we will summon them. Yes, that’s what we want. It must work”.
Responding, the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, reaffirmed the constitutional powers of the National Assembly to compel attendance by public officials and agencies.
Akpabio dismissed claims by some agencies that Senate Committees lacked the authority to summon them.
“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 said.
The Senate President directed Senator Musa to return with a substantive motion seeking to compel the defaulting agencies to appear.
“Come with a substantive motion. One of the prayers should be to compel them to appear before the National Assembly through your committee,” Akpabio said.
He warned that the Senate would not hesitate to take further action should the agencies continue to disregard legislative invitations.
“If eventually they do not appear, we know the appropriate action to take.”
The Senate subsequently adopted the motion by voice vote, authorising the Committee on Finance to issue summonses to the affected agencies in line with its constitutional oversight powers.
