Godswill Akpabio, the president of the Senate, has suggested that any head of government agency that does not accept an invitation from a committee of the National Assembly be fired immediately.
He made this statement on Thursday in Abuja at the start of a public hearing on the Senate’s Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) and Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) for 2024–2026.
News About Nigeria noted that the Senate Joint Committees on Finance, Appropriations, National Planning and Economic Affairs, and Local and Foreign Debt held a public meeting with the CEOs of government-owned agencies to analyse the budget and expand the nation’s income base.
He said that any invited agency head who did not show up to address the federal government’s economic initiatives was unfit to lead such an organisation and ought to be fired.
“Any serious appointee or head of any agency that is interested in the success of President Bola Tinubu’s administration ought to be here.
“The chairman ought to provide me with a list of all the heads of the agencies you invited but who were unable to attend this meeting.
“This marks the start of their failure throughout all of their offices. That’s why I’m glad to see the FIRS chairman here. Along with others, I have also seen the DG NIMASA.
“Any agency head who sends a representative here is not a serious person, and for that reason, the President should reconsider appointing such a person; this is not a threat, but the reality.
“I even cancelled every other commitment I had, including my appointment to speak at my party’s final rally in Owerri today, so that I could be present and help us strategize how to win”, the senate president asserted.
The approved MTEF/FSP will establish the parameters for the following fiscal year’s budget.
