SAN FRANCISCO, September 22, (THEWILL) – The House of Representatives on Sunday warned that it may be forced to issue a warrant of arrest on the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, if he fails to appear before it to give evidence on the status of seized and recovered assets by the agency.
Chairman of the House Committee on Drugs, Narcotics and Financial Crimes, Hon. Adams Jagaba (PDP-Kaduna), who disclosed this in a statement issued in Abuja, said the EFCC boss and other chief executives have severally disregarded invitations from the committee.
According to him, other government officials who have shown contempt for the parliament included the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Services (NCS).
He said the committee would not hesitate to issue a warrant of arrest on the CEOs of concerned agencies if they failed to appear before it next time they are invited.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the committee is not happy and will not hesitate to invoke the powers conferred on it by the constitution to the fullest, to compel the aforementioned agencies to comply,” he said.
According to him, in spite of the several letters sent out requesting for information from the agencies, they have continued to deliberately withhold the needed information from the committee.
Jagaba said the development was disappointing; especially coming from an agency of government such as the EFCC set up to fight corruption.
The chairman explained that a new date for the continuation of the public hearing would be communicated to all concerned agencies.
It would also be recalled that the committee could not continue with its public hearing held recently because of the absence of these key stakeholders.
The House had on February 28 mandated the committee to investigate the status of all seized and recovered assets by the EFCC since inception of the commission.
By Saint Mugaga, Abuja
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