Senate asks SGF, HOS to ensure MDAs honour lawmakers' invitations

The Senate on Thursday directed the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, and the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HoS), Esther Walson-Jack, to ensure that ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) that have refused to appear before National Assembly committees honour lawmakers’ invitations.

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The upper chamber warned that it would not hesitate to impose appropriate sanctions on agencies that continue to disregard committee invitations.

The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the resolution after a majority of senators supported it through a voice vote during plenary.

The resolution followed a motion sponsored by Sani Musa (APC, Niger East), who complained that the heads of several agencies had consistently ignored invitations from the Senate Committee on Finance, which he chairs.

The committee recently commenced an investigation into the management of internally generated revenue and remittances by government agencies between 2023 and 2025.

As part of the probe, it invited the agencies to explain how they managed and remitted revenue during the period under review.

Mr Musa, however, said some of the agencies failed to appear despite repeated invitations.

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He said the agencies’ continued refusal to honour the invitations amounted to a direct affront to the constitutional oversight powers and authority of the National Assembly.

He therefore urged the Senate to enact legislation that would compel agencies to honour committee invitations or face sanctions.

Debate

Many senators supported the motion when it was put to a voice vote.

Tahir Monguno (APC, Borno North) said the motion was long overdue, stressing that the legislature must protect its independence under Nigeria’s presidential system of government.

“Where the executive displays executive arrogance or executive rascality, the parliament should rise to defend its independence,” Mr Monguno said.

Abdul Ningi (PDP, Bauchi Central) said the development was inconsistent with the cordial relationship that existed between the executive and the legislature in the early years of the Fourth Republic.

He suggested that the Senate issue a final warning to defaulting agencies before formally notifying President Bola Tinubu if the situation persists.

Mr Ningi also proposed that the National Assembly consider withholding budgetary appropriations for persistently non-compliant agencies.

Similarly, the senator for Abia North, Orji Kalu, said the National Assembly was being taken for granted and urged lawmakers to exercise their constitutional powers without waiting for presidential intervention.

“If they don’t come after we summon them, we issue a warrant of arrest,” he said.

After the debate, Mr Akpabio put the motion to a voice vote, and it was adopted by a majority of senators.

He thereafter directed the Clerk to the National Assembly to communicate the resolution to all MDAs, government-owned enterprises (GOEs), the SGF, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation and other relevant authorities for immediate compliance.

Background

The resolution comes a day after the Senate adopted a report by its Committee on Legislative Compliance detailing the implementation of resolutions arising from motions passed between July 2023 and December 2025.

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The report, presented during plenary by the committee’s chairman, Garba Maidoki, assessed the implementation of Senate resolutions by ministries, departments and agencies, particularly on issues relating to road rehabilitation, disaster management and other matters affecting Nigerians.

Mr Maidoki, who represents Kebbi South Senatorial District, said the committee found that many of the resolutions were either delayed or ignored by the relevant agencies.

He added that despite the committee’s efforts to ensure compliance, many MDAs repeatedly failed to respond, a situation he described as a disregard for the authority of both the committee and the Senate.