* Sani Musa alleges widespread revenue retention, says some agencies have withheld government funds since 2020 Sunday Aborisade in Abuja The Senate on Wednesday initiated moves to compel the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and about 40 other ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to appear before its Committee on Finance over alleged failure to account for public revenues and persistent disregard for legislative invitations. The upper chamber also warned that continued defiance of the National Assembly’s constitutional oversight powers would attract appropriate sanctions, declaring that no government agency was above legislative scrutiny. The resolution followed a motion presented by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Sani Musa. The senator accused several revenue-generating agencies of frustrating the committee’s investigation into internally generated revenue, operating surpluses, stamp duty collections and statutory remittances into the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF). Musa said the committee was acting within the powers conferred on the National Assembly under Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which empower lawmakers to investigate the finances and administration of public institutions, summon witnesses and demand relevant documents. He said: “As part of our constitutional mandate under Sections 88 and 89 of the Constitution, the Senate Committee on Finance conducts periodic investigative hearings to examine the financial operations of government-owned enterprises and ministries, departments and agencies. “The exercise is aimed at scrutinising internally generated revenue, stamp duty collections where applicable, operating surpluses and statutory remittances into the Consolidated Revenue Fund.” The lawmaker lamented that despite repeated invitations, many agencies had either refused to appear before the committee or failed to provide the requested financial records. “More concerning is that some have taken the position that they are under no obligation to appear before the committee or submit the requested information, notwithstanding the clear constitutional and statutory powers vested in the National Assembly to conduct oversight over the finances and administration of public institutions,” he said. According to him, the conduct of the agencies amounts to a direct challenge to the constitutional authority of the legislature. “These developments constitute a serious challenge to the effective discharge of the committee’s oversight responsibilities and undermine the constitutional authority of the Senate. “If left unchecked, they could erode legislative oversight, weaken fiscal accountability and diminish transparency in the management of public resources,” he warned. Musa also alleged widespread abuse of revenue retention by several government agencies, accusing them of violating the Fiscal Responsibility Act and the Finance Act 2022. “These are agencies that collect revenue for government, and the Fiscal Responsibility Act as well as the Finance Act 2022 direct that all ministries, departments and agencies must comply with the financial regulations on remittances. “Most of them don’t comply. Instead of remitting what is required by law, they retain the larger percentage of the revenue and remit only a fraction. We need to call them to order,” he said. The committee chairman further disclosed that some agencies had allegedly withheld funds belonging to the Federal Government for several years. “We will request that they come for scrutiny so that the Fiscal Responsibility Commission can carry out reconciliation, after which we will require them to refund the money as quickly as possible. Some have been holding these funds since 2020,” he added. Supporting the motion, Senate President Godswill Akpabio dismissed claims by some agencies that Senate committees lacked the constitutional authority to summon them. “What we are talking about is that they are saying the Senate committee does not have the power to invite them. But the Senate has the power. The National Assembly has the power,” Akpabio declared. “We have the powers enshrined in the constitution to invite them.” He directed the Finance Committee to return with a substantive motion authorising the Senate to compel the attendance of the defaulting agencies. “Come with a substantive motion. One of the prayers should be to compel them to appear before the National Assembly through your committee,” he said. Akpabio further warned that any agency that continued to ignore legislative summons would face constitutional consequences. “If eventually they do not appear, we know the app
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