Senate threatens to arrest 56 MDA Chiefs over probe

The Senate Public Accounts Committee on Tuesday threatened to petition the required provisions of the constitution to force about 56 Federal Government agencies to appear before it from next week Tuesday.

The Chairman of the Senate panel, Senator Matthew Urhoghide, disclosed this while addressing reporters after some agencies summoned to appear before it ignored the invites.

The panel is presently analysing the queries raised against federal agencies as contained in the 2018 report of the Auditor General for the Federation. Just two out of the seven agencies, scheduled to appear before it on Tuesday, showed up.

A document obtained by our reporter from the secretariat of the panel showed that only the management of the Regional Centre for International Arbitration and those of the Federal University, Kashere, Gombe State, showed up before the committee.

The managements of the Petroleum Product Pricing and Regulatory Agency, Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund and Federal University, Makurdi, Benue State did not show up.

In addition to the list, those who did not show up before the panel were the management of the University of Jos and the Rural Electrification Agency.

Infuriated by the turn of events, Urhoghide instructed the secretariat of the committee to write final warning letters to all the errant agencies.

The Senator stated, “We are going to invoke Section 89 of the Constitution, which empower us to issue bench warrant of arrest on them, to compel them to appear, if they failed to honour our last warning letters.

“Why will the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund come to tell us that they have a new management hence they can’t come?

“For how long do they want the management to be in place before they can appear?

“NSTIF has over 50 queries. It is obvious that they are running away, they don’t want to come and give account.

“Today, the Petroleum Product Pricing and Regulatory Agency, and the Rural Electrification Agency and NSITF are all supposed to be here, bringing the total number of errant agencies to 56.

“We are giving them till next week Tuesday to appear or we issue warrant of arrest on them to appear.”