Senate Threatens Sanctions as MDAs Defy Resolutions, Ignore Oversight

• Adopts compliance report, says ministries routinely disregard directives on roads, disasters, compensation, other critical issues

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

The Senate on Wednesday escalated its confrontation with federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), threatening budgetary and disciplinary sanctions against institutions that ignore legislative resolutions and repeatedly fail to honour invitations to account for their activities.

The development came as the Senate adopted a comprehensive report of its Committee on Legislative Compliance, which revealed that several resolutions passed between July 2023 and December 2025 on critical national issues, including road rehabilitation, disaster management, compensation for victims and public sector reforms, had either been delayed or completely ignored by the Executive and the affected agencies.

In a related development, the Senate Committee on Sports Development warned it would seek disciplinary action against officials of the National Sports Commission (NSC) after the commission’s leadership failed to honour its invitation to explain issues relating to its finances and operations.

Presenting the Legislative Compliance Committee report during plenary, chairman of the committee, Senator Garba Maidoki (Kebbi South), lamented what he described as widespread disregard by MDAs for the constitutional oversight powers of the National Assembly.

He said the committee’s findings showed that implementation of Senate resolutions was frequently delayed while many agencies simply ignored requests for information on compliance.

“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.

Many MDAs ignore the committee’s requests for compliance information, thereby disregarding the powers of the committee and the Senate in general,” Maidoki said.

He further disclosed that several agencies had failed to implement resolutions on road rehabilitation and disaster management largely because funds for the projects were not provided in the budget.

Among the notable cases cited was the failure to implement the Senate’s resolution directing the federal government to compensate the family of two-year-old Eromonsele Omhonria, who was fatally injured by a stray bullet during an NDLEA operation in Delta State.

According to the report, the NDLEA also failed to facilitate the child’s recommended medical treatment abroad because of funding constraints.

The committee equally faulted the Nigerian Railway Corporation for refusing to reinstate its former employee, Engineer Paddy Ukpe, despite repeated Senate interventions.

Maidoki also observed that some lawmakers contributed to implementation challenges by sponsoring motions without adequate investigation or assigning responsibilities to agencies that lacked the statutory powers to execute the resolutions.

To address the situation, the committee recommended that the Senate impose budgetary and other sanctions on MDAs that fail to implement its resolutions or respond to its oversight requests.

The agencies identified include the Federal Ministries of Works, Health, Power, Petroleum Resources, Humanitarian Affairs, Information, Environment and Solid Minerals Development, as well as the Department of State Services, and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.

Others are the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Federal Roads Maintenance Agency, Ecological Fund Office, Nigerian Railway Corporation, NDLEA, Federal Civil Service Commission and the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio commended the committee for what he described as a comprehensive report before the chamber adopted it through a voice vote.

Meanwhile, the Senate Committee on Sports Development expressed outrage over the failure of officials of the National Sports Commission to appear before it despite separate invitations sent to both the commission’s Chairman and Director-General.

Chairman of the committee, Senator Abdul Ningi (Bauchi Central), rejected the explanations offered by the commission, warning that the Senate would not tolerate attempts to frustrate its constitutional oversight responsibilities.

“It is becoming a practice that requires Senate disciplinary action against these agents of government,” Ningi declared.

He said the continued absence of the commission’s leadership had prevented the committee from effectively carrying out its legislative duties and undermined accountability.

The committee unanimously backed Ningi’s position and directed the National Sports Commission to submit evidence of its approved budgets for 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026, as well as details of budget releases during the period.

It also demanded records of funds released to all national sporting federations, including football, basketball, volleyball, boxing, judo and hockey, together with evidence of statutory federal government subventions to the federations.

To independently verify the commission’s financial records, the committee directed its clerk to write to the Accountant-General of the Federation requesting comprehensive details of all funds released to the National Sports Commission from 2023 to date.

Ningi said a fresh date would be communicated for the commission’s leadership to appear before the committee, warning that the Senate remained determined to enforce accountability across government institutions.