The House of Representatives‘ Committee on Public Petitions has called Adewale Adeniyi, the Nigeria Customs Service’s (NCS) comptroller-general (CG), over the alleged unwillingness of some personnel to resign after reaching the retirement age.
The Obasi-Pherson Help Foundation, a civil society organisation (CSO), petitioned the lower legislative chamber, saying that some comptroller and assistant comptroller personnel were about to retire but refused to leave their positions.
Mike Etaba, chairman of the house committee on public petitions, stated on Wednesday that Adeniyi must appear before the panel next Tuesday to explain why some employees have refused to retire in accordance with civil service regulations.
“Nigerians deserve to know the truth of the matter, and it is only the CG that can clarify the situation,” the statement reads.
“We are elected to serve the people, and ensuring that all government agencies function effectively is part of that service.
“In this era when most of our youths are looking for jobs, it will be wrong for the older ones who are due for retirement to refuse to go.”
“That is not to say we shall take sides, far from it. We treat each case on merit, ensuring that justice is given at all times to the deserving.”
The committee also threatened to issue an arrest warrant for Abisoye Coker-Odusote, director-general of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), for allegedly violating a software development license agreement with Truid Ltd.
In a petition, Truid Limited’s counsel, E.R. Opara, alleged that the agreement was based on an arrangement in which the company funded, created, and implemented the tokenisation system with no financial obligation from NIMC.
In exchange, Truid would recoup its investment through service provider patronage, with the earnings split according to a predetermined ratio.
The arrangement was initially supposed to last 10 years, beginning in 2021, when the software was deployed.
According to Opara, the NIMC DG has been pushing to terminate the arrangement since her appointment by President Bola Tinubu.
Speaking on the situation, Etaba stated that if Coker-Odusote does not come before the committee, a warrant for her arrest will be issued.
“If she fails to show up at the next hearing of this case, we will have no option other than to ask the inspector-general of police to bring her,” the lawmaker said.
“How can an official of government treat constituted authority with such levity? We can no longer condone such an attitude.”
The committee handles petitions referred to it by the house.
Source: TheCable