House of Representatives, on Thursday, urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to give marching order to all his Ministers and heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to appear before relevant Standing Committees to defend the submissions on the 2024-2026 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP).
Chairman, House Committee on Finance, Hon. James Abiodun Faleke who gave the charge after the Committee issued 24-hour ultimatum to Director General of Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Mr. Joseph Ari, or be removed from office.
He said: “The House at plenary referred MTEF to us and in compliance with the laws we wrote letters to all the Agencies to appear before us to defend their submissions.
“Unfortunately it is clear that these agencies are ignoring or have ignored our invitations.
“And the House must pass this MTEF before the budget is laid. So, we want to make it clear that any delay arising for the passage of MTEF is surely not the fault of the national assembly.
“And so, we appeal to the President to direct all his ministers and agencies to appear before us unfailingly.”
Earlier, members of the Committee had unanimously resolved to step down the engagement of some Directors delegated to represent the ITF Director General.
While ruling, Hon. Faleke who accused the erring accounting officers of the invited MDAs of disrespecting the Parliament, threatened that the ITF Director General would be removed if he fails to appear before the Committee within 24 hours.
While disagreeing with the head of the ITF delegation who explained that the letter delegating her to represent the ITF Director was signed by the most senior Director while the Director General was away from the country, Hon. Faleke said: “Madam you are lying to me.
“The letter did not come in when he was away. Your DG called me last night and said because I want Committee members to know.
“He (ITF DG) said that our letter came in while he was planning to travel. And I told him that he must appear.
“So, he decided to send you to come and represent him after getting our letter.”
Some of the lawmakers who frowned at the development, including Hon. Oluwole Oke accused the Heads of the MDAs of flagrant disregard for the Parliament, hence resolved to adjourn the sitting to Monday.
While noting that the Committee can only interface with Heads of MDAs who are accounting officers of the Institutions.
In his intervention, Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Finance, Hon. Seidu Abdullahi said: “It clearly shows how irresponsible heads of Agencies have become and we would not take it as a Committee.
“The decision that we took last year, I think the chairman will have to revisit some of those high decisions, where accounts of agencies that show nonchalant attitude to this national assignment will be blocked. By the time we block your account and halt your operations, you will know how serious this Committee is taking this assignment.”
While ruling, Hon. Faleke said: “The letter was signed by the DG, which means he ignored our invitation to attend other functions.
“It’s a complete affront to the National Assembly. He must appear here tomorrow by 11am. If he fails to appear, we will get him off that seat.
“If he fails to appear, we will get him off that seat,” Hon. Faleke threatened as he banged the gavel.
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