Reps Order Immediate Suspension Of NRS Recruitment, Threaten To Sanction Chairman

The House of Representatives Committee on Federal Character has frowned on what it described as “the continued disregard for the constitutional authority of the National Assembly” by the Executive Chairman of the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), Dr Zacch Adedeji.

The Committee also ordered the immediate suspension of recruitment by the NRS, threatening to “invoke Sections 88 and 89 of the Constitution” to enforce its directives if the revenue service boss continues to disregard them.

Section 88 of the Constitution empowers the two chambers of the National Assembly to conduct investigations to expose corruption, inefficiency, or waste in government, while Section 89 grants both the authority to compel testimony, summon witnesses, and issue warrants.

The Committee, chaired by Hon. Ahmed Idris Wase (APC, Plateau), at a meeting in the National Assembly, said its latest directive followed the persistent refusal of the NRS chairman to honour legislative summons.

The Committee said it had, in a letter dated 15 July 2026, titled “Request for Nominal Roll/Invitation to Meeting”, requested the NRS boss to submit to it a comprehensive and up-to-date nominal roll of the service. It also requested Dr Adedeji to appear before it yesterday, Wednesday, 22 July 2026, at 2.30 pm at the Meeting Room 247, Second Floor, New Extension, House of Representatives’ wing of the National Assembly Complex.

However, the NRS chairman was absent during yesterday’s meeting of the Committee

The House Committee, in the same communication to the NRS boss, listed seven previous letters to him, which were duly acknowledged in his office. The series of previous letters to him were dated 13 October 2023, 7 November 2023, 14 March 2024, 3 July 2024, 16 July 2024, and another dated 1 April 2026, with reference number NASS/HR/CT.40/03/14. It accused the NRS boss of refusing to respond appropriately to the requests in the said letters, despite his office acknowledging them.

The ongoing legislative friction involves multiple issues, including controversial recruitment waivers granted by the Federal Character Commission (FCC) to the NRS.

The Committee recalled that it had expressly directed the Commission to refrain from granting any approvals or waivers to the NRS.

Chairman of the FCC, Hon. Hulayat Motunrayo Omidiran, was also absent from the panel’s meeting, citing official travel and subsequent illness.

But the Committee noted that Hon. Omidiran’s latest absence follows a series of invitations and official communications that were not honoured, describing the repeated failure to appear as “unacceptable and inconsistent with the standards of accountability expected of public office holders”.

The committee described the FCC’s granting of recruitment waivers to the NRS boss as “a direct affront to the constitutional oversight responsibilities of the House of Representatives and a disturbing disregard for the authority vested in the National Assembly by the Nigerian people”.

Consequently, the Committee issued a fresh directive to the FCC to immediately suspend all recruitment activities conducted by the Nigeria Revenue Service until its leadership appears before the Committee to account for its actions and comply with the constitutional oversight process.

Wase stated that the House of Representatives will not stand by while public institutions choose which constitutional directives to obey. He emphasised that legislative oversight is not optional and is not a matter of convenience for heads of government agencies.

“The National Assembly is the voice of the Nigerian people. Its constitutional oversight powers are not symbolic. They are binding instruments of accountability. No agency, commissioner, public official is above the Constitution or beyond the reach of parliamentary oversight”, he stated.

The Committee warned that persistent refusal by public officials to honour invitations from the House of Representatives sets dangerous precedents, erodes public trust in democratic governance, and undermines the constitutional system of checks and balances that safeguards Nigeria’s democracy.

The Committee reiterated its resolve to deploy every constitutional and legislative mechanism available to ensure compliance with its lawful directives and to protect the integrity of the oversight responsibilities entrusted to it by the Nigerian people.

In a report titled “Revenue Service appointments flout new law” published in its edition of 30 January 2026, Daily Trust said its investigation revealed that the appointment of five out of six Executive Directors at the NRS violated Part IV, Section 17 (1) of the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Act.

The law stipulates that each Executive Director must represent a specific geopolitical zone, and that the Executive Chairman and an Executive Director cannot hail from the same state. The newspaper’s investigation showed that this mandate was breached in five of the appointments.

On account of this alleged violation, a non-governmental organisation, the Incorporated Trustees of Patriotic Youth Organisations of Nigeria, approached an Abuja High Court to challenge the legality of the appointment of the Eds.

The group is seeking an order restraining the affected officials from performing any functions or parading themselves as Eds of the NRS pending the determination of the substantive suit. The defendants in the suit are the President, the President of the Court of Appeals, the President of the Federal Government, and the NRS.