The Nigerian Senate has criticized several agencies, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, the Federal Inland Revenue Service, and the Nigeria Police Force, for repeatedly ignoring invitations to address issues raised in the 2019 audit report.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, Senator Ahmed Aliyu (SDP, Nasarawa West), expressed frustration over the refusal of these agencies to respond to queries. In a statement to journalists in Abuja, he said, “The heads of these agencies have consistently failed to answer questions from the 2019 audit report despite several chances given to them.”
Senator Aliyu warned that any agency that continues to ignore invitations will have its queries upheld and reported to the Senate plenary. He said, “Going forward, any agency that does not honor our invitations will have its queries sustained and reported to the Senate.”
He criticized the behavior of these public agencies as detrimental to the goals of President Bola Tinubu’s administration. Other agencies also involved in this issue include the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Nigeria Mining Cadastre Office, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (formerly DPR), Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade & Investment, FCT Internal Revenue Service, Nigeria Immigration Service, Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, Ministry of Defence, and Nigeria Communications Satellite Limited.
Senator Aliyu added, “The committee began reviewing the audit report in October 2023 to prepare it for presentation to the Senate. However, many agencies have refused to attend meetings to discuss their audit responses. Our rules require that these agencies attend public hearings to address any questions arising from their submissions.”
He continued, “The committee is very displeased with the foot-dragging by these agencies. They are legally required to respond to parliamentary invitations and account for their actions. Despite multiple invitations, these agencies have chosen to disregard them.”
The committee has resolved that any agency failing to attend future invitations will have its audit queries reviewed based on the auditor-general’s report. “This resolution will be added to our rules if agencies do not improve their attendance,” Senator Aliyu concluded.
