The Minister of State for Finance, Budget and National Planning Clement Agba on Tuesday, shunned the invitation by the House of Representatives Committee on Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), investigating the activities of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in the North East.
The minister, after turning down the invitation several times, and asking for more time, was said to have finally accepted to appear on Tuesday.
However, on Tuesday, the committee was ready to take him, but was shocked that a Deputy Director in the ministry appeared without any correspondence from the minister to the committee.
Chairman of the Committee Idris Kabir had expressed the committee’s displeasure that the hearing should have held long before but the minister continued to plead for extension of time.
“We have been sending several correspondence to the minister and he asked for more time which we have done.
“Today, the minister is not here and there is no correspondence or even a phone call from him and we expected him”, the Chairman lamented helplessly, saying they expect so much information from the minister to aid their mandate.
Responding, Oluseyi Fatuyi, Deputy Director, International Corporation Department, told the committee that the minister intended to appear, but became unavailable by Tuesday morning,, asking him to appear, since the issues directly affected his department.
Angered by his explanation, the the Chairman said, ” you are just talking verbally. If he was not coming, he shouldave sent official communication to us”, stressing that there were official procedure to communicate the legislature.
“Even if he was not coming, the Permanent Secretary should be here”, the Chairman insisted, saying there were serious issues of national importance to be considered about the North East.
” We didn’t write our letters to you as a Deputy Director, but to the minister. He should have responded”, the Chairman said.
He added that even if the Deputy Director were to be taken, there should have been an official communication to back him up, so that he could be put on oath to brief the Parliament.
This sparked anger in the committee members, who insisted that the Deputy Director should not be taken and that the session be adjourned.
The Chairman, Kabir, acceded to the demands of his colleagues and adjourned the session, saying that the youths were out there protesting that the National Assembly was not working, but the minister was refusing to appear before the committee over activities of the NGOs in the North East.
Speaking to newsmen, the Chairman said that the committee would communicate the minister for the last time, giving him 48 hours to comply with the demands of the committee.
Be the first to comment