The Senate on Wednesday resolved to summon the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and about 40 other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) over their alleged refusal to honour invitations relating to the accountability of public funds.
The decision followed the adoption of a motion sponsored by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Sani Musa, who accused several government institutions of frustrating legislative oversight by declining to appear before the committee investigating revenue remittances, operating surpluses and compliance with financial regulations.
Presenting the motion during plenary, 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.
He explained that the committee’s exercise focuses on scrutinising internally generated revenue, operating surpluses, stamp duty collections where applicable, and statutory remittances into the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
The lawmaker, however, lamented that despite repeated invitations, several agencies had either failed to appear or completely ignored the committee’s requests.
“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 pose a direct challenge to the constitutional authority of the National Assembly.
“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 accused several revenue-generating agencies of breaching the Fiscal Responsibility Act and the Finance Act 2022 by retaining public revenues that should ordinarily be remitted into government coffers.
“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.
According to the senator, some agencies have allegedly been withholding government funds 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, Senate President Godswill Akpabio dismissed claims by some agencies that Senate committees lacked the authority to invite them for questioning.
He maintained that the National Assembly possesses clear constitutional powers to compel attendance.
“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.
The Senate President directed the Finance Committee to return with a substantive motion empowering the upper chamber to compel the defaulting 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 directed.
Akpabio also warned that agencies which continue to disregard invitations from the National Assembly would face constitutional consequences.
“If eventually they do not appear, we know the appropriate action to take,” he added.
The agencies listed for summons include 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, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).
Others are the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation, Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM), Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), NNPCL Retail Limited, Nigerian Commodity Exchange, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
Also affected are the National Examinations Council (NECO), National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NigComSat), Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA), Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) and the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), among others.
The Senate subsequently adopted the motion through a voice vote, paving the way for the formal summons of the affected agencies as lawmakers intensify efforts to strengthen fiscal accountability, transparency and oversight in the management of public funds.
