The Nigeria Customs Service’s refusal to testify before the House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee, which is looking into the purchases and disposal of government property, infuriated the committee on Tuesday.
At the panel’s resumed hearing, Prof. Julius Ihonvbere, the chairman of the ad hoc committee, criticized the NCS for failing to appear before the committee despite being invited on two separate occasions.
The panel had last week threatened to use the appropriate constitutional provisions to compel Ministries, Departments, and Agencies to appear before it if necessary. The panel is tasked with investigating the disposal of public property from 2010 to 2022 and uncovering allegations of illegal auctioning of public property and non-remittance of revenue realized into the Consolidated Revenue of the Federation.
Ihonvbere, who is also the House’s leader, criticized what he called the head of MDAs’ “arrogance of power” and insisted that the customs appear before the panel. He added that the parliament will do all it takes to make sure that the agency honors its summons.
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