The Senate Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Tuesday threatened to issue warrant of arrests against the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun; Chief Executive Officers of the Federal Inland Revenue Service ( FIRS) , Zacch Adedeji; the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited ( NNPCL), Mele Kyari; the Central Bank of Nigeria ( CBN ) Olayemi Cardoso and others over perpetual failure to honour its invitations to respond to audit queries.
Chairman of the committee, Senator Aliyu Wadada Ahmed (SDP Nasarawa West), who issued the threat at a press conference on Tuesday, warned that steps would be taken to remove the affected heads of agencies if they refuse to honour the parliament’s invitation.
Daily Trust reports that the affected agencies have been invited to respond to the Report of the Auditor-General of the Federation which queried them over alleged financial infractions and mismanagement of government revenues running into trillions of naira.
According to Wadada, the Auditor General’s report which was submitted to the Committee has unravelled rots in the concerned agencies of government over issues of remittances and non accountability in handling of government revenues.
“In the case of the Central Bank of Nigeria for instance, the query had to do with the handling of the Ways and Means by the apex bank.
“It is important for Nigerians to know, what happened under the so-called Ways and Means.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria, debited consolidated revenue funds account and credited Treasury Single Account, which amounted to over 30 trillion.”
Wadada said the concerned heads of agencies would be reported to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu by the Senate for creating disharmony between the legislative and executive arms of government.
He specifically alleged that the Chairman of FIRS, Zacch Adedeji, had ignored eight different invitations sent to him and even refused to respond to several communications forwarded to him.
Other agencies of government that have failed to appear before the committee according to Wadada include the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Nigeria Communication Satellite Limited.
He said the aforementioned agencies ignored invitations of the committee for nine consecutive times.
He said: “If the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinibu, 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 he is too busy.
“Whoever invitation is extended to and he or she refuses to appear before this all-important committee, a warrant of arrest will be issued and we will call on the president to disengage that person because the person does not share in the dreams of Mr President for making Nigeria a better place.
“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 NNPCL as well, the line is drawn. The next invitation NNPCL does not honour, would attract a warrant of arrest as well as 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.”