ABUJA, Nigeria — The Ad-hoc Committee of the Nigerian House of Representatives, tasked with investigating alleged job racketeering and the mismanagement of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System, IPPIS, by Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, MDAs, has summoned vice chancellors of all federal universities to testify over allegations of bribery.
The Chairman of the committee, Yusuf Gagdi, stated on Tuesday, August 29, 2023, that the summon comes in response to media reports alleging that the vice chancellors paid N2 million each to bribe the committee.
Gagdi declared that he was unaware of any committee members receiving bribes and urged any person with proof of such claims to step forward.
“We will not compromise our commitment to uncovering and addressing irregularities within the public service,” Gagdi emphasized. He advised those making allegations to deal with individual members they suspect rather than maligning the entire committee.
The National University Commission, NUC, is also expected to present evidence regarding these claims.
In another development, the Ad-hoc Committee on the non-remittance of contributions to the National Housing Fund, NHF, and the utilization of the Fund from 2011 till now has summoned the Acting Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mr. Folashidun Shonubi.
Also called to testify are the Accountant General of the Federation, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Madein, and representatives from four payment gateways engaged by the government for the National Housing Scheme, NHS, including Remita, e-Tranzact, Nigeria Interbank Payment System, NIPS, and GIF.
Dachung Bagos, Chairman of the NHF Ad-hoc Committee, stated that the summons are necessitated by the committee’s dissatisfaction with the presentation made by the director of IPPIS, Emma James Deko.
Those summoned are expected to provide details about the deductions and remittances made to workers from 684 MDAs concerning their contributions to the national housing fund.
As the committees intensify their investigations into alleged malpractices within governmental organizations, Nigerians await the outcomes of these inquiries with bated breath.
Whether these hearings will result in actionable steps to tackle corruption and improve governance remains to be seen.
