The Senate Committee on Public Accounts, on Thursday vowed to issue a warrant of arrest against heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) over their failure to honour its invitation to answer audit queries against them.
The Chairman of the Committee, Senator Matthew Urhoghide, told Senate Correspondents in Abuja that the refusal of the heads of government agencies to appear before the panel has become an ugly pastime by persons charged with government functions in the country.
The MDAs that have failed to honour the invitation of the Committee, according to Senator Urhoghide, include the Ministry of Information, Culture and National Orientation, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Ministry of Power, Ministry of Women Affairs, Ministry of Solid Minerals and the National Population Commission (NPC).
“Over a month ago, we wrote to them to come and answer the audit queries raised against them by the Auditor-General of the Federation in its 2015 Audit Report.
“But they have deliberately and irresponsibly failed to honour our invitation. Their failure to appear before this Committee amount to outright disobedience to constituted authority,” Urhoghide said.
He lamented that the hindrances caused by the failure of the agencies to appear before the panel is part of the reasons why Nigerians often accuse the National Assembly of not discharging its duties.
“It is only in Nigeria that people will spend government’s money and fail to show up to defend their expenditure,” he said.
He added that the Committee has no choice but to compel the defaulting agencies to appear before it in line with Section 89 of the Constitution, if they persist in their behaviour.
