Daud Olatunji
The Senate has signaled its intention to initiate the removal and possible arrest of key government officials, including the Inspector-General of Police, the heads of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPC), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and several others.
Other affected agencies of the government are the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), and Nigeria Communication Satellite Limited.
PLATFORM TIMES reports that some of the heads of these agencies had repeatedly ignored the invitations extended to them between seven and nine times.
PLATFORM TIMES gathered that this threat comes in response to their persistent refusal to honour invitations from the Senate’s Public Accounts Committee.
Senator Aliyu Wadada Ahmed, Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, expressed profound dismay during a press conference held at the Senate Wing of the National Assembly.
He lamented the repeated snubs by agency heads, citing instances where invitations were disregarded up to nine times.
Ahmed specifically pointed fingers at Zacch Adedeji, Chairman of FIRS, who allegedly ignored eight invitations and failed to respond to multiple communications from the committee.
“If the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, will set aside his busy responsibilities to come to the National Assembly to present the budget, I wonder how any appointee will think and feel that he is above the law or too busy,” Senator Ahmed asserted.
Senator Ahmed warned that warrants of arrest would be issued should the invited officials persist in their defiance.
He emphasized that such actions were necessary to ensure that appointees align with President Tinubu’s vision for national development.
He said, “From the inception of this committee to date, more than eight invitations have been extended to the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, who has intentionally refused to appear before this committee and also hasn’t been responding to communications at all from this committee.
“From this moment, the line is drawn between this committee and the Federal Inland Revenue Service whose Chairman risks a warrant of arrest if he ignores the next invitation for appearance.
“For NNPC as well, the line is drawn. The next invitation NNPC does not honor would attract a warrant of arrest as well as a call on President Tinubu to do the needful on the recalcitrant appointee.
“Similar fate awaits the Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, and heads of other agencies earlier mentioned.
“Instruments and instrumentality of governance available to us by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria will surely be deployed against the affected heads of agencies.”
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