Absence Of Key MDAs Stalls House Of Reps Probe Of N450bn NNPC Debt

The absence of some key Ministries, Agencies and Departments (MDAs) on Tuesday, stalled the investigative hearing into the non-remittance of N450 billion into the Federation Account by the NNPC.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the House of Representatives on Sept. 22, had mandated the Joint Committee on Finance, Petroleum Upstream and Downstream and Gas, to investigate NNPC’s modalities of its remitting money into the federation account.

The MDAs that were absent from the hearing are : Federal Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).

Rep. Abdulmumin Jibrin (PDP-Kano), the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Finance, said that the hearing could not continue because of the absence of principal actors in the matter.

Jibrin said that the committee would also require enough time to study the documents submitted to it by the various agencies.

“We will have to go through the documents and wait for the principal actors to come back from wherever they have gone to, ’’ he said.

He noted that to enable members of the committee prepare adequately, it sent out letters early enough to all stakeholders to submit their memoranda to the committee.

The lawmaker regretted that some agencies submitted the relevant documents needed for the hearing on Tuesday morning, thereby compelling the committee to reschedule the hearing.

Rep. Dakuku Peterside (PDP-Rivers), the Chairman, House Committee on Petroleum Resources (Down stream), gave assurance that the committee would ensure that government business was carried out with all seriousness and commitment.

Rep. Muraina Ajibola (PDP-Oyo), the Chairman of House Committee on Petroleum Resources (upstream), disclosed that the committee was vested with powers to order the arrest of absentees at the hearing.

He, therefore, expressed the House’s readiness to ensure that government businesses were carried out with all seriousness required for success.

“The House of Representatives is prepared to champion the cause of things to be done properly,’’ he said.

Earlier, Speaker Aminu Tambuwal, had told stakeholders that the exercise was not aimed at witch-hunting anyone but to ensure that there was transparency in government business.

“I will like to assure all stakeholders and indeed the general public from the onset that no witch-hunt is intended.

“This exercise is pursuant to the regular oversight function of the Legislature entrenched under sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 constitution.

The investigative hearing has been rescheduled for Nov. 1.