Job Racketeering Probe: Reps Issue Final Warning To MDAs
The House of Representatives has issued a final warning to Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government who failed to appear before it.
Rep. Yusuf Gagdi, the chairman of the ad hoc committee probing job racketeering and mismanagement of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), gave the warning at its resumed sitting in Abuja on Wednesday.
This is against the backdrop of over 200 MDAs that had failed to honour the committee’s invitation despite newspaper publications.
“It is the Nigerian people that are summoning the MDAs; we are representative of the people, and the MDAs must honour our invitation,” he said.
Mr Gagdi said any MDAs who failed to appear before the committee winds up its investigation should have itself to be blamed should the report of the committee indict such MDAs.
The lawmaker said, “We have made two different publications in two different national dailies inviting 200 agencies to appear before this committee.
“The agencies have no excuses not to appear before this committee because they have a budget for newspaper publication, and they are using it,” he said.
He threatened to use information received from the MDAs for its investigation, and the agency should have themselves to be blamed.
He added that the MDAs would be accountable if they refused to appear before the committee to submit its final report.
He said there was a need for employment to reflect the federal character, adding that the committee aimed to ensure that recruitment was not done in secrecy.
According to him, this was to ensure that Nigerian citizens with no godfathers could be employed in any MDAs.
