Senate threatens CBN, IGP, NNPCL, FIRS, NUPRC, Others With Warrant Of Arrests Over Refusal To Answer Audit Queries

The Senate has warned the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun; the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL and the Chief Executive of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, Zacch Adedeji for repeatedly ignoring its invitations over audit queries from the 
Office of the Auditor General of the Federation, OAGF, 
Others key agencies of the Federal Government named include the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC and Nigeria Communication Satellite Limited.
The Senate threatened them with arrest warrants, following concerns over billions of Naira reportedly unaccounted for by the key revenue-generating agencies. 
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, Senator Aliyu Ahmed Wadada, SDP, Nasarawa West, who spoke in an interview with reporters in Abuja, noted the defiant attitude of the affected  agencies to undermine the legislature’s constitutional authority, saying that federal agencies were sabotaging the country's national development efforts.
According to Wadada, the missing funds were vital resources for national development. 
Vowing to seek the removal of defiant agency heads from office if they persisted in their defiance, Wadanda stressed that the Senate would escalate the matter by reporting them directly to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
His words, "The affected agency heads are causing disharmony between the legislative and executive arms of government and sabotaging the President’s renewed hope agenda. 
“The Chairman of FIRS has intentionally refused to appear before this committee or respond to communications. He risks a warrant of arrest if he ignores the next invitation.
“These agencies, including the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, and the Nigeria Communication Satellite Limited, have collectively ignored up to nine consecutive invitations...
“Whoever refuses to appear before this committee will face a warrant of arrest, and we will call on the President to disengage such persons." 
Wadada emphasized that if President Bola Ahmed Tinubu could take time out of his schedule to present the national budget at the National Assembly, no government appointee should feel above the law.
He further said that constitutional instruments would be deployed against non-compliant officials, adding that the Senate would not hesitate to publish their audit queries in national newspapers if they remained defiant. 
The Committee Chairman specifically accused Zacch Adedeji of FIRS of ignoring eight invitations and refusing to respond to official communications. (Vanguard)