The committee turned away the Director, Finance and Account of the Industrial Training Fund, Ms. Attah Sophia, and insisted the Director-General of the institute attend in person.
The House of Representatives Committee on Finance has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to prevail on heads of Ministries, Department, and Agencies (MDAs) to appear before it to defend the Medium Term Expenditure FrameWork and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP) in defense of their respective budget for passage.
The committee condemned in strong terms, the attitude of some heads of MDAs toward the parliament even as they threatened to invoke relevant sections of the law against such agencies continually treating the parliament with levity.
The Chairman of the Committee, Rep. James Falake (APC, Lagos) made the call on Wednesday, during a hearing on the 2024-2026 MTEF/FSP with some heads of agencies.
Faleke said “We want to make it clear that any delay arising from the passage of the Budget is not the fault of the National Assembly. So, we want to appeal to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to direct all his ministers and agencies to appear before us to defend their budget.”\
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Faleke also warned the MDAs against tendencies that might create room for leakages and shortfalls to deprive the government and the country of expected resources.
The Chairman equally emphasized the importance of his Committee while assuring that it would assist in interfacing with the agencies and stakeholders on government finances especially, to ensure a realistic Medium-Term Expenditure Framework & Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP) before the presentation of the 2024 annual budget.
“As the representatives of the Nigerian people, a position which we occupy in trust for them, we owe Nigerians the onerous responsibility of delivering the democratic dividends to the doorsteps of our constituents in line with our campaign promises.”
Earlier, the Director, Finance and Account, of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Ms. Attah Sophia, who appeared before the panel to represent the institute, was sent away as the committee insisted it would only entertain the Director General of the institute.
In his ruling, the committee Chairman summoned the ITF boss to appear before it unfailingly on Monday, 13th Nov 2023.
