The Senate has moved to compel Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to comply with its resolutions amid alleged growing disregard for parliamentary oversight duties by the agencies.

Top among the penalties approved by the Senate is zero budgetary allocations to MDAs and all statutory and non-statutory bodies flouting resolutions arising from motions passed on the floor.

A latest report by the Senate Committee on Legislative Compliance named the Ministry of Works; Ministry of Health; Ministry of Power; Ministry of Petroleum Resources; Ministry of Information; Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction; Ministry of Environment; and Ministry of Solid Minerals Development among the defaulters that will risk zero allocation of funds in 2027.

Also listed in the details of the report obtained by the Nigerian Tribune are the Department of State Services (DSS); Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC); National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA); Nigeria Revenue Service; Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC); Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (HoS); Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA); and the Ecological Fund Office.

The committee, which is chaired by Senator Garba Maidoki, had investigated the non-implementation of 27 resolutions passed by the Senate by the affected MDAs, leading to the recommended penalties.

The Senate, acting on powers conferred under Section 4 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and Order 95(A) Rule (7) of its Standing Orders, 2026, set up the committee to monitor compliance with Senate resolutions by MDAs and other bodies.

“In the course of its work, during the period under review (of 27 resolutions), the committee observed with concern that some MDAs did not fully comply with resolutions of the Senate, thereby undermining legislative oversight and diminishing the efficacy of parliamentary resolution”, the report stated.

The finding prompted the recommendation on zero allocations, especially as the committee noted that some of the agencies either simply ignored the resolutions or failed to honour invitations to make appearances in the course of the investigation.

The report noted that while it is within the powers of the Senate to make resolutions, the authority to act on them lies with the executive, which in this instance, failed to perform its own part of the chain.

“The implementation of Senate resolutions is often delayed and sometimes ignored.

“The Executive retains the final authority to issue directives for the implementation of Senate resolutions”, it further noted.

The report added, “Accordingly, the committee recommends that the Senate apply budgetary or other sanctions on MDAs that fail to respond or implement resolutions of the Senate, including but not limited to Federal Ministries of Works, Health, Power, Petroleum Resources, Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Information, Environment and Solid Minerals Development as well as the DSS, Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC)…”

However, the committee also found that some agencies were unable to implement resolutions because funding was not provided in their respective budgets to do so, even if they were willing to comply.

For such agencies, the report called for budgetary provisions to be made in the succeeding year to accommodate the implementation of the resolutions.

It cited the case of the NDLEA, which had yet to address the medical treatment of Eromonsele Omhonria, a child shot and injured by its officer on July 13, 2023, during an NDLEA operation in Asaba, Delta State, “due to its inability to access funds from the Confiscated and Forfeited Properties account to facilitate the child’s treatment abroad.”

The committee recommended “automatic appropriation” in the following year’s budget to address cases such as Omhonria’s, where the affected MDA is ready to comply but for lack of funds due to non-provision in the current budget.

But, in all other instances of deliberate disregard for Senate resolutions, “particularly on roads”, the committee recommended zero allocations for the defaulting MDA in the next budget to serve as a deterrent.

However, the report also partly indicted lawmakers for rushing to pass certain resolutions without first doing their own due diligence to be sure that resolutions from such motions do not have encumbrances like insufficient financing, legality and wrong conclusions.

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It stated, “Some agencies directed to implement Senate resolutions lack the requisite statute mandate to do so.

“Sponsors of motions often did not investigate matters fully before seeking legislative action, and multiple prayers on a motion relating to actions to be taken by a single agency affect effective implementation of the resolutions adopted therefrom.”

Incidentally, while the Committee on Legislative Compliance was conducting the investigation, the Senate also passed a separate resolution on July 23, threatening to invoke serious sanctions against heads of Government-Owned Enterprises (GOEs), MDAs who fail to honour invitations by its committees for appearances henceforth.

It said in that separate intervention that such sanctions would include issuance of arrest warrants and zero allocations in the national budget, a similar penalty as also recommended by the detailed report by the Committee on Legislative Compliance obtained by the Nigerian Tribune.

The resolution followed a motion moved by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Sani Musa, backed by 18 others, on the “Persistent Non-Compliance by Government-Owned Enterprises (GOEs) and MDAs with the Oversight Activities of the Senate Committee on Finance.”