An ad hoc committee of the House of Representatives investigating the status and usage of all recovered looted funds and property has threatened sanctions against Inspector General of Police, heads of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), if they fail to honor its latest invitation within 72 hours.
The resolution was reached on Monday by the panel, which had been investigating the assessment and status of all recovered loots, movable and immovable assets from 2002 to 2020.
Chairman of the committee, Adejoro Adeogun expressed disappointment over the non appearance of heads of various government agencies, and the few which sent representatives that were not in a position to provide the needed information expected executed by the panel.
“You are indirectly undermining the entire parliament, not just the House of Representatives but the entire institution, ” he said as he described the representatives as acting as impersonators, since they had no letters authorizing their appearances. “You said you are representing CBN, do you have a letter to that effect, if not then you are impersonating.
“You are a government official aren’t you? Is that the procedure, that someone just walks into an event and says he is representing you without a formal letter of introduction, because as far as we are concerned, you are an imposter. I will therefore yield the floor to my colleagues in case they have anything to say” he said.
With the development, a motion was moved by a member, Isiaka Ibrahim, who decried the lack of respect accorded the parliament by various agencies of government despite being a creation of the parliament, stressing that there was need for scansion against heads of the agencies. “These agencies of government that are products of the National Assembly having been established by law, are the same ones that undermine the same process that gave birth to them.
“Apart from being established by law passed by the National Assembly, the Heads are the ones sent to the Senate for confirmation. I am worried that when they are invited and the National Assembly is taken for granted like this. This calls for serious concern. If it requires bringing it up on the floor of the House, we should do so and if possible, we should shut down the National Assembly”, he noted.
The motion was adopted by the Committee and the chairman in his final remarks stated that it will give the agencies till Thursday to appear , threatening to issue sanctions, in line with sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 constitution, if they failed to do so.
