The senate committee on public accounts yesterday threatened to issue a warrant for arrests on heads of heads of ministries, departments and agencies who failed to appear before it.
The heads of the MDAs were to appear before the senate to defend queries against them in the 2015 Audit report of the office of auditor general of the federation.
The chairman of the committee, Mr. Matthew Urhoghide issued the threat following the absence of all six MDA heads invited for an investigative hearing on the audit queries issued by the office of the auditor general.
He said the ministers for information and culture, Mr. Lai Mohammed; petroleum resources, Mr. Timipre Sylva; power, Saleh Mamman, women Affairs; Paulen Tallen and others.
“Over a month ago, we wrote to them to come and answer the audit queries raised against them by the auditor-general of the federation in its 2015 audit report.
“But they have deliberately and irresponsibly failed to honour our invitation. Their failure to appear before this committee amount to outright disobedience to constituted authority,” he said.
Urhoghide said the MDAs must appear before it to answer queries raised in the audited reports by the office of auditor-general.
“Warrant of arrest is the exclusive preserve of the senate, because it is prescribed in our constitution.
“If you check section 89 of the constitution, very clear in the last resort, says that you must force anybody to come and give account of any expenditure, or where it suspects that there is any infraction or corruption that have been elicited.
“I want to say that we are going to do just that. I have said it, once we invite you here, you do not come, we give you the first warning and if you do not come, we issue a warrant of arrest.
“Government is a continuum, so they have to come and give account,” he said.
He said the 2015 audited reports of the OAGF raised some queries on the spending activities of the MDAs, hence their invitation.
He said some heads of agencies were not ready to be accountable for their spending of public funds.
He said the 9th senate would not tolerate a situation in which MDA heads treat invitation to defend their expenditure with contempt.
