Senate has threatened to issue warrants of arrest against the Inspector-General of Police IGP and Chief Executive Officers of key Federal Government revenue-generating agencies, including the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), for their repeated refusal to honour its invitations.
The Chairman of the Senate Public Accounts Committee (SPAC), Senator Aliyu Wadada (Nasarawa West), issued the warning on Tuesday in Abuja during a press briefing on the challenges faced by the committee.
Senator Wadada assured that if such behavior continues, the heads of these agencies will be reported to President Bola Tinubu, who appointed them not just to the committee, but to the entire Senate.
He emphasized that their actions are creating disharmony between the legislative and executive arms of government and, by extension, sabotaging the president’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
He specifically alleged that the Chairman of FIRS, Zacch Adedeji had ignored eight different invitations sent to him and even never responded to several communications forwarded to him through his agency FIRS
The Chairman further said other agencies of government mentioned to have persistently refused to honour invitations of the committee are the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Nigeria Communication Satellite Limited that ignored invitations of the committee for Nine consecutive times.
He questioned how an appointee could consider themselves above the law or too busy to honour the committee’s invitation to respond to the Auditor-General’s queries when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu himself sets aside his busy schedule to personally present the national budget before the National Assembly.
Senator Wadada assured that, moving forward, any individual who refuses to appear before this crucial committee after being invited will face a warrant of arrest.
He also called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to remove such appointees, as their actions indicate they do not share in his vision of making Nigeria a better country.
The chairman assured that, from this moment, a clear line has been drawn between the committee and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
He warned that the FIRS Chairman risks a warrant of arrest if he fails to honor the next invitation, along with the heads of other key agencies, including the NNPCL, the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, and others previously mentioned.
Senator Wadada assured that the committee from now on would use its constitutional power against the affected heads of agencies.
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