The Ninth Senate, like other sessions before it, has carried out several high profile investigations in the last 18 months of its inauguration. While some have been concluded some are still ongoing. The question that is yet to be answered is: probe to what end? SANNI ONOGU examines these probes that change little or nothing.
THE Executive Director, Policy and Legislative Advocacy Centre, Dr. Clement Nwankwo, believes the Executive is lethargic in acting on resolutions of the National Assembly. Nwankwo, like other Nigerians, is not unaware of the fact that investigation is the second name of the National Assembly. Since the country’s return to democracy in 1999, the two chambers of the National Assembly have busied themselves with a series of probes and legislative hearing.
Some of the investigations ended on a good note while many others created more problems than they sought to solve.
The N1.8 trillion power intervention funds, the influx of substandard products and the financial dealings of the Niger Delta Development Commission were some of the investigations under taken by the Senate.
The chamber has also investigated the alleged invasion of a Federal High Court in Abuja by operatives of the Department of State Services ostensibly to arrest activist Omoyele Sowore who was standing trial in the court.
The upper chamber also probed power generation and distribution firms over the disturbing unsteady power supply in the parts of the country.
Section 88 of the 1999 Constitution empowers the National Assembly “to direct or cause to be directed investigation on any matter or thing with respect to which it has power to make laws, and (b) the conduct of affairs of any person, authority, ministry or government department charged, or intended to be charged, with the duty of or responsibility for (i) executing or administering laws enacted by National Assembly, and (ii) disbursing or administering moneys appropriated or to be appropriated by the National Assembly.”
Subsection two, however, made it clear that the powers conferred on it was to enable it to make laws “with respect to any matter within its legislative competence and correct any defects in existing laws; and expose corruption, inefficiency or waste in the execution or administration of laws within its legislative competence and in the disbursement or administration of funds appropriated by it.”
The attempt by the lawmakers to exercise this onerous power to expose corruption and inefficiency in the system has more often than not been fraught with controversies. Stakeholders have often faulted the way and manner some of the probes are carried out. The aim and motive of such investigations have also been subject of controversies.
Allegations of pecuniary interests against members of legislative investigative hearings have been the reason some probes fizzle into oblivion.
For instance, the Senate probe of the 774,000 jobs under the Special Public Works Programme raised a lot of dust.
The altercation between members of the Senate Committee on Labour and Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, over the selection and recruitment process attracted recrimination to both the Senate and Keyamo.
The row delayed the take-off of the programme for over three months. Unbridled disagreement between committee members and the minister was at issue.
Ego about who works out modalities for implementation and who takes credit for the programme became a matter of do-or-die.
With what seemed a ding-dong affair, Senate spokesperson, Senator Surajudeen Ajibola Basiru and his House of Representatives counterpart, Benjamin Kalu, issued a joint statement to declare the recruitment exercise suspended.
This followed a shouting match between Keyamo and members of the Senate Committee on Labour and Employment and the House of Representatives Committee on Labour matters at a public hearing on the matter.
As if that was not enough, on December 12, last year, the Senate after a lengthy closed door session resolved to wade into the sack of the DG of NDE, Dr. Nasir Ladan Argungu.
It urged President Muhammadu Buhari to reconsider and rescind his directive on the dismissal of Argungu.
Senator Ibrahim Hadejia had through a point of order intimated the chamber that Argungu was unceremoniously booted out of office on account of the tussle between him and the supervising minister of the NDE, Keyamo.
Hadejia insisted that it was in overriding public interest to reconsider and rescind the said presidential directive of the removal of Argungu as DG NDE to ensure stability and smooth implementation of job creation, skill acquisition of the Federal Government’s special works programme aimed at benefiting the youths who are unemployed and remained restless in the streets.
Senate President Ahmad Lawan said the sack of the DG was capable of disrupting the programme.
“I think the problem is the dislocation, if I may use the word, that the sacking of the DG would cause,” Lawan said.
The programme scheduled to commence on October 1, 2020 and end on December 31, 2020 could only be flagged off on January 8, 2021.
What is more, Senate resolution that the NDE should be the driving force of the implementation of the SPW was ignored, with the sack of Argungu of retained. The Executive had its way.
The security activities at Lagos Ports and alleged diversion of N263.89 billion by OMSL also came under the focus of the Senate.
A motion by Senator George Sekibo, on “Illegal Security Activities by Messrs OMSL Limited at the Safe Anchorage Area of Lagos Ports and the Need to Investigate their Excesses” had been considered.
Sekibo submitted that a security company registered in the name of OMSL Limited has since 2014, carried out provision of security at of the Lagos Ports Safe Anchorage Area on fees from Vessels without regard to the Nigerian Ports Authority who by the Ports Act of 1954 has the responsibility of the area.
OMSL Limited, he said, charges every ship that anchored within the Safe Area $2,500 on first day of anchorage and $1,500 on every subsequent day for the period any ship stayed at the anchorage area.
After consideration of the report of its committee, in January 2020, the Senate overruled the NPA and lifted the suspension it clamped on the operations of OMSL at the Ports.
The chamber adopted the recommendations of its joint committee on Navy, Marine Transport and Finance that investigated the matter.
The committee, in its report, noted that the allegation was an indirect indictment of the Navy as “it is the one operating on the platforms with the logistics provided by OMSL.”
The Senate adopted a recommendation of its committee that the OMSL should be allowed to continue its services at the SAA until government could provide a better and cost-effective alternative.
The NPA is yet to implement the resolution and has continued to hold the OMSL at bay.
The Senate in one of its resolutions after the consideration of the report of the Senate Committee on Marine Transport, recommended the lifting of the suspension of OMSL by the NPA. The Ms Hadiza Bala Usman-led NPA turned down the resolution. The Authority insisted that its action was final.
On December 15, the Senate launched a probe into alleged N1.2 trillion oil revenue loss said to be due to a breach by SINOPEC ADDAX Petroleum. A seven-man ad-hoc committee was mandated to carry out the task.
The decision to investigate the alleged revenue loss was sequel to the consideration of a motion by Senator Gershom Bassey (Cross River South).
Bassey in the motion noted that in 2000/2001, the Federal Government provided a Fiscal Incentive Package to Addax Petroleum Company that saw the reduction of the company’s Petroleum Profit Tax from 85 per cent in the 1998 Production Sharing Contract (PSC) to 60 per cent in the 2001 Fiscal Incentive Package; and the company’s share of oil lifting increased from about 45 per cent to 56 per cent.
Addax Petroleum, he said, followed through by investing to grow production from about 10,000bpd in 2000 to over 100,000bpd by 2008.
He informed that after the purchase of Addax Petroleum by Sinopec in 2009, “the assets have witnessed significant production decline due to poor investment decision, making production levels to fall presently to approximately 30,000bpd with no developed gas.” The report of the ad-hoc committee is yet to be presented for consideration at plenary.
On October 14, 2020, the Senate mandated its committees on Petroleum Downstream and Gas Resources to investigate the gas explosion at Cele Bus Stop, Iju-Ishaga in Ifako-Ijaiye Local Government of Area of Lagos State.
The probe, it said, was to determine among others, “the remote and immediate cause(s) of the explosions with a view to prevent reoccurrence.
This resolution was sequel to a motion on “urgent need to investigate recent gas explosions in Lagos West Senatorial District resulting in loss of lives and massive destruction of properties,” raised by Senator Solomon Adeola.
The Senate Committees on Petroleum Downstream and Gas chaired by Senators Sabo Mohammed Nakudu and James Manager respectively, were given four weeks to conclude their assignment and report back to plenary. They are yet to submit their report for consideration by Senate three months after.
The report of the probe of alleged invasion of Abuja court by DSS operatives is still cooling off in archives six months after it was submitted at plenary by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele.
The incident took place in December 2019. The report was submitted in June 2020. Till date the report has not been considered by the Senate.
Senate in its resolution recommended that the Prof Kemebradikumo Pondei-led Interim Management Committee of NDDC be sacked after it considered alleged financial bazaar contained in the report of the Senator Olubunmi Adetunmbi-led ad-hoc committee that probed alleged financial recklessness by NDDC IMC.
The Executive, which struggles to give bite to Senate’s resolutions, took months to dissolve the IMC citing a court ruling that rendered void the position of the IMC on the basis of illegality.
A former Speaker, Kwara State House of Assembly, Dr. Ali Ahmad, lamented the huge costs of legislative investigative hearings.
The ex-chairman of the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures in Nigeria, asked senators and members of the House of Representatives to resolve to stand by their leadership to defend the Constitution and engender good governance.
Most Nigerians, Ahmad said, know very little about legislative practice and appear unwilling to explore but just condemn.
“Probes do not come cheap. One advert in a newspaper is over half a million Naira, and you must notify every single stakeholder, otherwise constitutionally, your report may be challenged. Budget for constitutional amendments used to cost Nigeria between N3 to N7 billion.
“So when legislators go round the country and the nation agrees on a constitutional proposal, and someone in the Villa just corners a president to veto it, Nigeria loses many things including billions of Naira. Same with laws and probes. Bills passed and reports of probes are not cost-free.”
Nwankwo asked what non-cooperation by the executive translates to in terms of efforts and huge resources utilised for these investigative activities by the legislature, said: “My sense of the effectiveness of legislative oversight in exposing corruption as indicated in the constitution is that for that to be effective, it requires executive collaboration with the National Assembly to achieve this.
“We do know that the National Assembly has held a few probes. Some have delivered results in terms of legislative recommendations on actions needed to be taken.
“But those actions need to be taken by the executive and the executive has been lethargic in following up on legislative recommendations because at the end of the day the National Assembly has no powers to enforce legislative decisions especially if they are legislative motions. What we have seen is that the National Assembly has held probes through its oversight instrument.
“It has made recommendations and the executive has been reluctant to implement some of these decisions. I think a lot rests with the executive to collaborate with the legislature to make the legislative instruments of oversight and accountability to work effectively.”
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