The Senate has decided to issue arrest
warrants for the Federation’s Head of Service, Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack;
Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi; and Chairperson of the Nigerians in
Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, for failing to appear
before its Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions.
Union Homes Savings and Loans Plc, Enugu
Electricity Distribution Company, and Sally Best Properties Limited are among
the public agencies whose heads face arrest warrants.
Senator Neda Imasuen, Chairman of the Senate
Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions, complained during a
plenary session, prompting this decision.
Senator Imasuen complained that many
invitations to these ministries, agencies, and personnel to respond to
petitions filed against them by aggrieved Nigerians or corporate groups had
been routinely ignored.
Senator Imasuen, in a resolution under Senate order 42, expressed anger with these
officials’ reluctance to honour the Senate’s invitations and asked the Senate
to authorise the issuing of arrest warrants.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio swiftly
granted the motion, citing Section 89 of the 1999 Constitution, which
authorises the Senate to take such action.
“You already have the power as provided by
Section 89 of the Constitution. Please use it by issuing a warrant of arrest
against any head of agency refusing to appear before the public petition
committee,” Akpabio stated.
Following the Upper Chamber’s directive,
Senator Imasuen revealed that new letters of invitation had been delivered to
the impacted officials, warning that arrest warrants would be issued if they
failed to appear.
He also stated that the committee would
consider a petition this week regarding the withholding of a student’s results
by
bb based on an alleged vengeful
report by an examination supervisor.
Comments:
Leave a Reply