Reps Warn NPA, NIMASA Over Defying Ports Concession Probe

The House of Representatives ad-hoc committee investigating the benefits accruing to the federal government from the concessioning of Nigerian Ports and terminals, has given last
warning to the heads of government agencies over their refusal to its invitations and provide necessary documents needed for the probe.

The agencies include; the Nigerian Ports Authority(NPA), the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).

Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Kolawole Akinlayo, who gave the warning while briefing parliamentary reporters on Friday, asked the heads of the agencies to
change their attitude towards the panel or have themselves to blame.

Akinlayo said henceforth, the committee will no longer tolerate contempt of the parliament as it resolved to invoke the statutory constitutional provisions to compel any erring head of agency to appear before the probe panel.

“You are aware that Section 89 and 129 of the 1999 Constitution (As amended) have provided a list of guidelines and powers that are to assist the legislature in carrying out its oversight functions. These include issuing summons, warrants and fines when its orders, as approved by the Constitution, are violated.

“In more drastic instances, the legislature has the constitutional power to recommend the removal of office holders, where it is believed that the office holder(s) is not effectively discharging his constitutional or statutory duties.

“I wish to state without mincing words that this Committee will not hesitate to subpoena any disrespectful and uncooperative CEO/head of MDAs; we will not develop cold feet in directing the Inspector General of Police to arrest any CEO or head of MDAs that fails to honour our invitation.

“Anyone who is out to sabotage our work will no longer be given the oxygen to undermine the legislature. We shall invoke the necessary constitutional provisions to compel compliance with the directives of the Committee.

“We are not witch-hunting anybody or organisation but the mandate given to us by the House must be accomplished and in doing so, we will not spare any CEO or officer or individual or group that have resolved to treat the parliament with contempt.

“Like I have always said, Nigerians deserve to know whether these concessions have delivered value for money, complied with contractual obligations, enhanced national competitiveness, protected public assets, and contributed meaningfully to economic growth, employment, and revenue generation. And the only way we can get these answers is to judiciously engage with all the stakeholders.

“On behalf of the Ad hoc Committee and indeed the leadership of the House of Representatives, I hereby appealed to the aforementioned organisations and agencies to kindly comply with the letters of invitations extended to them. We shall not entertain any frivolous excuses because this assignment must be timeously executed,”he added.