Senate threatens sanctions as MDAs defy resolutions, shun oversight invitations

The Senate on Thursday threatened to impose strict budgetary and administrative sanctions on Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) and Government-Owned Enterprises (GOEs) that fail to honour invitations for legislative oversight, citing constitutional breaches.

The resolution followed a debate sparked by the repeated refusal of several MDAs and GOEs to appear before the Senate Committee on Finance chaired by Senator Sani Musa.

Following the debate, the Senate, presided over by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, unanimously adopted a series of resolutions directing all agencies of government to comply with invitations from its committees or face sanctions in line with the Constitution and other extant laws.

Leading the debate, Senator Abdul Ningi said the National Assembly could no longer continue pleading with government agencies to perform what he described as their constitutional obligation.

According to him, the persistent refusal of some agencies to appear before legislative committees amounts to a direct affront to the authority of the National Assembly and poses a threat to Nigeria’s democracy.

“We must start by calling their attention that this is the last warning. Secondly, we will write to the President to inform him that this arm of government is not being respected.

“Thirdly, no budgetary allocation to any organisation that refuses to come,” Ningi declared.

Contributing, Senator Adams Oshiomhole (APC, Edo North) absolved President Bola Tinubu of responsibility for the actions of the agencies, insisting that the blame rested on the heads of the defaulting institutions.

He argued that many of the agencies had also failed to comply with the Fiscal Responsibility Act and Treasury circulars, describing their conduct as harmful to the nation’s economy.

“Mr. President should not be bothered about this matter. It is an indictment on the agencies that did not comply with the Fiscal Responsibility Act or Treasury circulars. I consider this an act of economic sabotage,” Oshiomhole said.

Senator Oji Uzor Kalu (APC, Abia North) maintained that the Senate already possessed sufficient constitutional powers to compel attendance and should exercise them without seeking intervention from the Executive.

He stressed that legislative oversight is the exclusive responsibility of the National Assembly and cited Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution as empowering the Senate to enforce compliance.

“This is not the job of the President. Our job is to do oversight. Sections 88 and 89 are there. If they don’t come, we raise a warrant,” Kalu said.

The former Abia State governor added that the Minister of Finance and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria had demonstrated respect for the National Assembly by honouring previous invitations.

Also speaking, Senator Halilu Ahmed (Nasarawa West) reminded lawmakers that Section 89(1)(d) of the Constitution empowers the National Assembly to compel attendance through the issuance of warrants.

“The power of the Senate to issue a warrant to compel attendance is fairly spelt out in the Constitution under Section 89(1)(d). The Clerk should write to all those MDAs, failing which the Senate should invoke its constitutional powers,” he said.

Some lawmakers, however, urged caution, advising that while the Senate should insist on compliance, it must exercise its powers within the law and with decorum.

“We have the powers under the Constitution, but we should not speak to people without decorum.

“When they falter, then we make an example of them within the Constitution and our Standing Orders,” they said.

At the end of the debate, the Senate called on the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HOCSF) and all ministers to direct agencies under their supervision to promptly honour invitations from the National Assembly.

Lawmakers further resolved that any agency or institution that deliberately refuses to honour Senate invitations or obstructs legislative oversight would be sanctioned under the 1999 Constitution, the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act, the Fiscal Responsibility Act and the Senate Standing Orders.

A proposal seeking to compel the Senate President to immediately issue bench warrants against defaulting agency heads was withdrawn following procedural objections raised during the debate, while another prayer contained in the motion was also expunged before its adoption.

In a separate resolution, the Senate passed a motion sponsored by Senator Muhammad Adamu Aliero directing all MDAs to regularly submit their audited financial statements to relevant Senate committees in line with Section 85(2) of the Constitution.

Aliero said timely submission of audited accounts was essential for effective legislative oversight and accountability in the management of public resources.

“We cannot do oversight without seeing the books,” the senator said.

𝕤𝕖𝕖 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖/𝕨𝕒𝕥𝕔𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕧𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕠 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖