The House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee criticized the head of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Mr. Zacch Adedeji, for not attending meetings despite being invited multiple times, saying it showed disrespect for the parliament.
Bamidele Salam, the Chairman of PAC, expressed this during the continued investigation into revenue losses in Abuja.
The committee had previously mentioned the possibility of using its legal powers to issue a warrant for the arrest of any government agency head who ignores its invitations during oversight activities.
During the event on Thursday, Salam stated, “This is the fourth time the committee would be inviting the FIRS chairman but he failed to show up.
“We have also ensured that these letters were personally delivered to his mailbox and WhatsApp number.
“We consider this behavior irresponsible and arrogant, and we warn him that there will be consequences if he continues to disrespect the parliament.”
He pointed out that several letters were sent to Adedeji without any response, and mentioned that the Federal Government has not received the value-added tax that it is owed by FIRS.
He explained, “Once our reconciliation is complete, the amount will be in the hundreds of billions,” and added that this was the payment that the committee had requested FIRS to come and collect, but the agency had not appeared.
