(SINL NIGERIA) The chairman of Senate committee on Ethics, Code of conduct and Petitions, Senator Neda Imasuen (Edo South, Labour Party) has urged ministries, government departments and agencies (MDAs) to respect summons of the committee to enhance its work.
He said the major challenge of the committee is MDAs who don’t respond to summons, saying the committee will not hesitate to issue arrest warrant on any erring organization or person who has been invited but refused to appear before the committee in future.
Senator Imasuen made the disclosure while briefing newsmen on the activities of the committee on Tuesday in Abuja.
“We have few challenges ranging from some MDAs who see our summons and don’t respond to them and we have sent warnings to all of them, that the Constitution allows us the powers, which is our ability to issue arrest warrant on any erring person who has been invited but refused to appear before the committee. We have a job to do and we seek everybody’s cooperation”.
Specifically, Senator Imasuen said the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) was invited but refused to honour the invitation.
Speaking on the arrest warrant, he said: “well is a power, but we are going to use it responsibly. We have invited them (NRC) to come, they haven’t come, so we are going to write them again. The case has been adjourned so that they have opportunity to come.
“But if it becomes a pattern and they don’t want to respond to us and what they are doing is not to be accountable, to the Nigerian people, then of course we will issue a warrant of arrest on anybody, nobody is above the law, we are all under the law and we must obey the law”.
He continued:”We have an interesting committee, this is people’s court. Basically what we do is to attend to petitions all over the country. Anybody who has petition against any MDA, commissions, contractors who do business.
“We consider what a petitioner think is unlawful dismissal in place of work, discrimination, refusal of due benefits among others. It also includes students who have grievances against their authorities, or the school Senate, for whatever reasons some rusticated for what they think is not justified, so they come for redress.
“The good thing about the committee is that it cut off legal rigmarole of regular court, it cut down the time of litigation, if you are to go to regular court and the Senate is behind us in what we do” Senator Imasuen added.
