THE Speaker of Nigerian House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara disclosed in an interview that the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice runs the risk of being arrested for refusing to appear before the Senate when he was summoned.
He made this disclosure during an interview while speaking with select editors in Lagos, Nigeria.
The Speaker faulted Malami’s position that he is not answerable to the Senate, saying that for the fact that the Senate confirmed his appointment, he had appeared several times before National Assembly committees.
Asked what the Senate could do following Malami’s refusal to appear before it, the Speaker said the Senate has two options. The first line of disciplinary action within the provisions of law is to issue an arrest warrant which the Inspector General must by all means execute.
The second option, he said , is to withdraw his confirmation as Minister of Justice, all these the Senate could do within the provisions of the law if pushed to the wall.
Below is an abridged edition of the interview with selected editors in Lagos, Nigeria.
Excerpts:
Recently, the Senate invited the Attorney General of the Federation, but he refused to appear, saying he was not an employee of the Senate. How do you see this?
Well, in the last administration, there were instances where the National Assembly summoned an appointee of the executive to appear before the National Assembly, like in the case of the former Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke. The provisions of the Constitution are manifestly and patently clear about powers in pursuance of a resolution published in a gazette. In the case of Diezani, what she did was a clever way of saying there was no publication in a gazette and so, we had not complied with the constitutional provision to compel her. That was neither here nor there, but the Constitution was very clear that in pursuance to our resolution published in a gazette, we can invite any authority in Nigeria to give evidence in clear exercise of our legislative powers. It is manifestly provided for in our Constitution.
What we should correct more in Nigeria is this culture of impunity. It is not a question of law, it is just a matter of when an individual feels that to some extent, I can manoeuvre my way through the system so, I’m not bound by the provisions of the law. The rule of law is the foundation of democracy to the extent that it is not the government of men but the government of laws. Anyone who knows and believes in our laws will not have any difficulty honouring the invitation of the National Assembly, except that person feels guilty.
The Attorney General has had cause to appear before committees of the National Assembly in the past, especially when we were dealing with the issues of Kogi State, MTN and others. So, it is a bit strange to say he is not going to honour Senate’s invitation because he is not answerable to them. If he insists on not appearing, there are things the Senate could do. The Senate has the right to issue warrant of arrest on him. The warrant will be sent to the Inspector General of Police to bring him to the Senate. If the IGP refuses to do so, the Senate would have done its part. Also, it was the Senate, which confirmed the Attorney General The Senate could withdraw his confirmation for refusing to appear.