Drama as Reps arrest WAEC officials during probe
The House of Representatives on Tuesday asked the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and the distribution companies (DisCos) to reverse the tariff hike for Band A customers immediately.
This resolution was reached after the adoption of a report presented by the House Committee on Power. Chairman of the Committee, Victor Nwokolo, who presented the report, stated that Nigerians cannot afford the new tariff.
The committee recommended a return to the status quo.
The recommendations were adopted by the Committee of the Whole, after which it was passed. Further investigation into the tariff hike is to be conducted by the House.
NERC had in April announced a hike affecting Band A customers, who are to pay N225 per kilowatt and were promised at least 20 hours of power supply per day.
Also yesterday, there was mild drama at the National Assembly complex after four representatives of the West African Examination Council (WAEC) were held in custody on the orders of the House of Representatives Committee on Basic Examination Bodies.
The officials were: Amos Josiah Dangut, Head of National Office, WAEC Nigeria, who represented the Registrar; Angus Okeleze, Senior Deputy Registrar; Victor Odu, Acting Director of Finance; and Segun Jerumeh, Deputy Director of Finance.
This followed a motion moved by a member of the Committee, Uchenna Okonkwo, during an investigative hearing, after the officials failed to answer their questions to their satisfaction. The lawmakers during the hearing were in heated arguments with the WAEC officials about whether the examination body was accountable to parliament or not.
Dangut had earlier in his presentation to the committee posited that WAEC was not an agency of government, hence not accountable as other agencies. But the lawmakers insisted that WAEC Nigeria was a creation of an Act of the National Assembly and, hence, must account for all their activities to them, pointing out that the National Assembly makes appropriations for WAEC. The lawmakers also pointed out that WAEC’s convention dictates that they must submit to the legislation of any of its member countries.
The officials were taken away by members of the Sergeant at Arms of the National Assembly where they were detained in one of the offices for about 15 minutes. However, after a brief closed-door session, the Committee resolved to allow them to go and come back at a later date with the relevant documents demanded of them.
The Committee Chairman, Oforji Oboku, said they must bring the audited statement of accounts of the examinations body from 2018 till date. He also directed that they must present relevant documents with respect to a N5 billion loan WAEC got in 2022 to buy a customised calculator among others. The Chairman insisted that WAEC cannot operate outside the supervision of the National Assembly and that they must bring the requested documents, or else there would be sanctions.
