As envisaged by the 1999 Constitution (as amended), legislative investigative panels/committees by the National Assembly are meant to unearth facts. However, even though there have been great revelations at some of such investigative hearings, many of the reports have failed to see the light of day; while many other investigative hearings have failed to take off. In this report, TONY AKOWE reviews some loud public hearings and endless probes initiated by the National assembly, which have produced dead results
In January last year, this newspaper quoted the Auditor-General’s report for 2019 as saying that about 178,459 different types of arms and ammunition got missing from the police armoury without any of them being reported. The report said the police high command failed to keep a comprehensive record of unserviceable and expired firearms and ammunition, which could lead to the conversion of firearms for illegal use and loss of public funds.
The report of the missing arms is contained on pages 383 to 391 of the “Auditor-General of the Federation’s annual report on non-compliance/internal control weaknesses issues in ministries, departments and agencies of the Federal Government for the year ended December 31 2019.” The report, which was also published in several other national dailies, prompted the House of Representatives, at its plenary on January 20, last year to order an investigation into the missing arms and ammunition. Out of this figure, over 88,000 were said by the Auditor-General to be AK47. An ad hoc committee was mandated to carry out the investigation, while the Public Accounts Committee was to find out where the arms are.
More than over one year after, there has been no report submitted to the House by either the Ad hoc committee or the Public Accounts Committee on the issue of the missing arms.
Interestingly, the police high command is also not known to have denied the report. The audit report said: “Audit observed from the review of Arms Movement Register, Monthly Returns of Arms and Ammunition and Ammunition Register at the Armoury section that a total number of lost firearms as reported as of December 2018 stood at 178,459 pieces. Out of this number, 88,078 were AK-47 rifles, 3,907 assorted rifles and pistols across different police formations which could not be accounted for as of January 2020.
“Formal reports on the loss of firearms through dully completed Treasury Form 146 (loss of stores), were not presented for examination. Records obtained from Force Armament at the Force headquarters showed that 21 Police Mobile Force (PMF) Squadron, Abuja did not report a single case of missing firearm, whereas, the schedule of missing arms obtained from the same PMF showed a total of 46 missing arms between 2000 and February 2019.”
The House resolution to investigate the missing arms came as a result of a motion by the Deputy Minority Leader, Toby Okechukwu, who said the missing arms could have found their way into the wrong hands in view of the rising cases of banditry and terrorism across the country. He expressed concern that the value of the lost firearms could not be ascertained because no document relating to their cost of acquisition was presented to the auditors for examination.
According to him, with the worsening state of security, kidnapping and banditry, the missing arms could have found their way into the wrong hands, while Nigeria did not undertake any war in recent times. Even though the ad hoc committee was saddled with the responsibility of investigating the alleged complicity of the security agents in the security situations, it is not known to have held any public sitting throughout the year; while at some of the House sittings, some of the lawmakers complained about the delay in carrying out the investigations ordered. The House rule required such investigations to be carried out within a maximum of eight weeks.
Another probe that has gone on almost forever is that into the Federal Government’s abandoned properties across the country. This was after a few meetings, which brought to light how a six-storey building that belonged to the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), situated on Martin Street in Lagos, was sold for a paltry N100 million. The committee suddenly went silent, even when the management of the FRCN claimed they were not consulted before the property was sold. Across the country, there are several government properties that have been left unutilised while government agencies pay huge amounts of money annually on rent for properties they occupy in the various states and Abuja.
Some of these properties have been sold to individuals and corporate bodies at giveaway prices. Interestingly, even though the government is aware of these properties, they have done nothing to put them to good use and have even set up a presidential committee to sell them.
A search through the annual budget reveals several millions of naira budgeted for payment for office accommodations. The investigation was meant to find out why these properties were abandoned and how to put them to good use, especially at a time when the country was in dire need of funds to meet competing needs. Another investigation by the House that has not seen the light of day is the probe of the joint venture operations between the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and multinational oil companies operating in the country.
Several of these companies have refused to appear before the Ad hoc committee set up by the House. Not even the threats issued by the committee have yielded any result. Even though the Committee, headed by the Chairman of the House Committee on Rules and Business, Abubakar Hassan Fulata, alleged that most oil companies operating were involved in financial malfeasance amounting to over $85 billion, it is not known whether the committee will be able to submit a report to the House for consideration before the end of the current House.
Fulata had also said that many of the companies were operating without a Certificate of Acceptance on Fixed Assets (CAFA), making claims of capital allowance from the government without the certificate and, as such, may be compelled to make a necessary refund to the government coffers. CAFA is usually issued by the Ministry of Trade and Investment to legalise operations of the companies and to serve as evidence of approval for the purchase of assets valued at ?500,000 and above, while a capital allowance is granted to companies that have incurred qualifying capital expenditure for the purposes of a trade or business to generate taxes.
Though the House resolution ordering the investigation required the Committee to submit a report within eight weeks, it took the Committee several weeks to kick-start the investigation. However, over four months after, there is no end in sight for the investigation.
The House had also ordered an investigation into daily PMS (petrol) consumption, the amount of subsidy being paid by the government as well as the volume imported by the NNPC on a daily basis. All agencies involved in the importation and distribution of PMS have often given conflicting figures about the daily consumption of PMS. There are those who believe that a huge quantity of imported fuel is smuggled out of the country. But without an accurate figure of the quantity imported and distributed, it is difficult to ascertain the quantity of PMS consumed.
The Committee, which is also yet to turn in a report, accused government agencies and other stakeholders in the oil sector of frustrating efforts at determining the volume of PMS consumed in the country daily with a view to determining the actual amount of subsidy being paid by the government. Other probes by the House, especially in 2022, include duplication of functions by ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), state of petroleum refineries, fuel subsidy, MDAs over N600 billion extra-budgetary expenditure; the incessant collapse of the national grid, $6.479 billion and debt owed the government by oil and gas companies, among others. These probes are yet to be concluded despite the hype that followed their commencement.
At one of the hearings, the Chairman of the Committee, Abdulkadir, said: “I express my disappointment in some of the MDAs because this is a very important responsibility as far as the House of Representatives is concerned. We are all elected from our various constituencies, representing various states and local governments and, as we said earlier, the issue of consumption of petroleum products, especially PMS, is a very sensitive issue and it has far-reaching implications on fiscal federalism.
“So, we expect the government agencies to co-operate with us to give us information, to give us data that we asked for so that we synthesise all these and make analysis and come out with a fair view and position of the volume consumed in the country. This will, invariably, give light on the amount of money needed to subsidise this product. Unfortunately, most of the key players in the industry have been avoiding appearance before this committee. This committee and, indeed, the House of Representatives, will leave no stone unturned and there is no agency that is above the law.
“Let them understand that they can only delay their appearance before this committee. But they cannot escape the tentacles of this committee and the House of Representatives as far as this investigative hearing is concerned.”
Another investigation by the House that has remained inconclusive is the payment of a whopping $33 million monthly on a power purchase agreement by Azura Power Company by the Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading for take-and-pay power even when the power is not available. The investigation, which began in August 2022, has not been concluded by the House. The House had queried several aspects of the agreement between NBET and Azura as well as the fact that the agency did not get the approval of the Federal Executive Council before signing the power purchase agreement with Azura.
The Chairman of the House Committee on Finance, James Abiodun Faleke, had said it was not in the national interest to commit the country to such a huge investment without the knowledge of the President and the Federal Executive Council; while also frowning at the fact that arbitration process for the power agreement was domiciled in France and not in Nigeria. Faleke had told the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, who is also the Chairman of the Board of NBET, that the committee will invite her to the NBET investigative hearing. That was during the MTEF/FSP hearing as a prelude to the 2023 Budget. A few months after, the Minister is yet to be invited and the probe appeared to have been stalled. Incidentally, Faleke had accused the Managing Director of the company of trying to frustrate the probe by telling people that he will not furnish the committee with the required documentation to carry out its duties.
There is also the investigation of an alleged N28.199 billion Withholding Tax (WHT), Value Added Tax (VAT), and Forex infractions by two money deposit banks in the country that was initiated in 2021. The banks were accused of underpayment of WHT and VAT as well as foreign exchange leakages between 2010 and 2019. According to a report of the first phase investigation conducted by the joint House Committee on Finance and Banking and Currency, United Bank for Africa (UBA) allegedly underpaid WHT and VAT worth $2,838,296,330.74 and foreign exchange leakages worth $25,199,851,112.97 for the period under review.
The report also showed that FSDH Merchant Bank committed tax infractions and foreign exchange leakage infractions to the tune of $ 9,963,335.72 within the period under review. The outcome of the investigation is still being awaited over 18 months after the second phase of the investigation began. In May 2021, the House ordered a probe into the N72.34 billion for the rehabilitation of the 1443 km Port Harcourt-Maiduguri railway line awarded by the Jonathan administration. The contract was awarded in 2011 to about four different foreign companies, but work was yet to commence several years after.
The companies that got the contract were Messrs Esser Contracting and Industry Company (Turkey), CGGC Global Projects Nigeria Limited and Lingo Nigeria Limited (in association with Strasky Husty and Partners Limited of the Czech Republic). The House was particularly to investigate the N19.2 billion contract awarded to Esser Contracting Industry Company Incorporated which has been abandoned 10 years after it was awarded.
Apart from the House resolution ordering the investigation, nothing has been heard about it; just like several others before and after the investigation was supposed to have been carried out. Even though these investigations are supposed to be in the national interest, there have been no results to show for the efforts. The House also made move to investigate the funds spent by the government on COVID-19. The sum of N16.9 billion was approved in the 2020 budget, N32.5 billion from the COVID-19 Special Account/Levy and N34.5 billion was to be funded through donations from the public and private sectors.
But the investigations never commenced and nothing has been said about the planned investigations since the idea was conceived. Almost on a weekly basis, members of the House come up with one form of investigation or another other and these investigations are approved by the lawmakers. But they either never see the light of day or those that commence are never concluded.
Between 1999 and when the House went on Christmas and New Year break, it empanelled several investigations, some of which were never implemented. For example, the House had empanelled an ad hoc committee that investigated remittances to the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) by government agencies. The committee, headed by Sada Soli, has since submitted its report to the House, but as at the close of legislative business on December 21, 2020, the report was yet to be considered.
Also, The Nation is aware of an investigation ordered by the House into the power sector headed by House Leader, Alhassan Ado Doguwa. Though the committee had eight weeks to submit its report, it was yet to make any headway several months after, even though it has met on a few occasions with those concerned. Similarly, Deputy House Leader, Peter Akpatason, also heads an ad hoc committee investigating crude oil theft, as well as impact on the environment and the country’s economy. It is yet to conclude its report even though it is already out of the time allocated to it. Apart from the inaugural meeting, it is not known whether the Akpatason committee has ever met again.
On March 5 2020, the House ordered a comprehensive probe into financial leakages arising from tax evasion, malpractices, misuse and diversion of foreign exchange allocations by companies and other entities amounting to over 30 billion dollars annually. This followed a motion sponsored by the Chairman of the House Committee on Finance, James Faleke on the need to investigate the disbursement of foreign exchange by the Central Bank of Nigeria and other agencies with a view to determining the exact amount that may have been lost by the government in the process.
He said the leakages arose from various malpractices in foreign exchange allocation to companies from sources such as CBN, autonomous, interbank, domiciliary and over-the-counter purchases for the importation of physical goods, payments of Foreign Service vendors, dividend repatriation, foreign loans and interest payment including foreign currency denominated contracts payment by companies in engineering, procurement, construction, installation and marine transportations.
He also alleged fictitious transfer of forex allocation for the payments of dividends to foreign shareholders of Nigerian companies above the dividend approved by the company’s board of directors and audited accounts, thereby leading to evasion of statutory 30 per cent company income tax thereof. Another important investigation which has failed to see the light of day in the House of Representatives is the decision to investigate flagrant violations of Nigeria’s labour laws by international oil companies operating in the country and the casualisation of Nigerians working in such companies.
The decision was taken by the House on November 28, 2019, with a directive to the Minister of Labour and Employment and other relevant ministers to immediately address the challenges of exploitation and abuse of workers in the country’s oil and gas sector.
But the season of empty investigations and probes is not limited to the House of Representatives. Like the lower legislative chamber, the Senate has also embarked on a number of investigations and probes that have not yielded any positive result. Even though the 1999 Constitution (as amended) empowers the lawmakers to issue warrant of arrest, heads of agencies that constantly ignore invitations to investigations by the parliament have gone unpunished. All that has happened has been the parliament issuing threat of arrests.
For example, the Senate set up an ad hoc committee to investigate alleged uneven disbursement of half a trillion naira loan to the six geo-political zones by the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN). Even though the committee had two weeks to submit its report, there are no indications as at the time of this report to suggest that the assignment has been carried out diligently by the committee. Senator Ali Ndume had alleged that there was discrimination against several states of the federation in the disbursement if the loan, with Lagos alone getting 47 per cent while the 19 northern states got only 11 per cent of the loan.
Interestingly, however, some of the investigations by the Senate have been turned in, but there has been changed concrete steps to implement the reports from such investigations. One area that has been of concern to Nigerians is the huge loss of crude oil to oil thieves. Both Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ahmed Lawan and Femi Gbajabiamila, respectively, have described those involved as economic saboteurs who should be made to face the music. While the committee set up by the House to investigate oil theft has failed to do its job and submit a report to the House, the Senate also has a committee looking into the same issue. The 13-man Senate Committee was saddled with the responsibility of investigating cases of oil theft and its impact on petroleum production and revenue from oil. The committee, which was set up in April last year, was given one month to conclude the investigation. However by mid-November when the Committee finally turned in a report, it was rejected by members of the Committee who claimed that they never attended any meeting where the investigation was conducted.
Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege, and Senator Kashim Shettima claimed the report was strange to them. Omo-Agege, who raised questions in why only six of the 13 members signed the report, said: “After the first meeting, I was not invited for any other meeting and I did not attend any, making this report before us today a very strange one to me.” Senator Shettima, on his part, said he was never invited for any meeting and cannot say anything on the report being presented to the Senate for consideration and approval. The Senate subsequently rejected the report.
Other investigations being carried out by the Senate include the investigation of some 252 Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government who supposedly benefited from a N5 trillion Service Wide Vote between 2017 and 2021. The MDAs were said to have collected the money without informing the National Assembly committees oversighting them. They are also investigating the Nigeria Iron Ore Mining Company over non-performance and mismanagement. The company is said to have been collecting huge sums of money from the government since 2008, but has not produced any iron ore nor contributed any revenue to the government coffers.
The above is in addition to the investigation into the Public Works Programme coordinated by the National Directorate of Employment in which 774,000 Nigerians were recruited with the mandate of 1000 people per local government for which a whopping N52bn was budgeted. Each beneficiary was supposed to be paid N20,000 for a period of three months. The NDE was said to have collected about N26 billion from the Service Wide Vote for the scheme in 2020 without a comprehensive report on the beneficiaries across the 36 states of the country and the Federal Capital Territory. The lawmakers have insisted that they have no record of their constituents who benefited from the scheme.
There is also the investigation into alleged job racketeering at the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) budgeting system, uneven distribution of N500billion by Development Bank of Nigeria, non-performance of Nigeria Iron Ore Mining Company in Itakpe, Code of Conduct Chairman over assault, Shell over joint venture, NPA Joint venture enterprise, fake COVID-19 19 test results, among several others. The list of empty investigations being conducted by both the Senate and the House of Representatives is endless. Who is benefiting from these probes?
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The House had also ordered an investigation into daily PMS consumption, the amount of subsidy being paid by the government as well as the volume imported by the NNPC on a daily basis. All agencies involved in the importation and distribution of PMS have often given conflicting figures about daily consumption of PMS…But without an accurate figure of the quantity imported and distributed, it is difficult to ascertain the quantity of PMS consumed