Umahi, Dabiri-Erewa, Others Risk Arrest Warrants for Ignoring Senate Summons

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja  

The Minister of Works, Dave Umahi; Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Hon Abike Dabiri-Erewa; the Head of Service of the Federation, and Mrs Didi  Esther Walson-Jack, are among persons who risk arrest warrant for allegedly ignoring senate summons.

The Senate has asked its Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, to issue warrants of arrest on them and some other top government officials in the country, who shunned several invitations earlier extended to them.

Other public agencies whose chief executives also risk warrant of arrest are Union  Homes Savings and Loans Plc;  Enugu  Electricity Distribution Company and Sally Best Properties Limited.

The Chairman of the Senate panel, Neda Imasuen, said the red chamber through a resolution, gave him the go-ahead to force the affected officials of the agencies to the National Assembly during plenary on Wednesday.

Imasuen, in a statement, said their flagrant disobedience to the committee’s invitations was slowing down the panel’s activities.
The Labour Party chieftain, representing Edo South Senatorial District in the nation’s parliament, said the affected people had questions to answer based on on petitions against their agencies and firms.

Senate’s resolution, followed Imasuen’s complaint, made through a motion for the action anchored on order 42 of the Senate Standing Rules.

Imasuen in the motion, lamented that several invitations sent to heads of the affected agencies and firms to appear before his committee for explanations or defence on petitions by aggrieved Nigerians or corporate bodies, were ignored .

He then requested the Senate to mandate his committee to issue warrant of arrest against the recalcitrant chief executives .

Being a  request made through personal explanation,  the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, granted him.

“You already have the power as provided for by section 89 of the 1999 constitution.  Please use it by issuing warrant of arrest against any head of agencies refusing to appear before the public petition committee .

“Appearances of the invited people before the committee are very important for justice and fairness on issues raised against them in the petitions before the Senate through the Public Petitions Committee,” Akpabio had said.