OPSN warns against incessant invitations by National Assembly

Incessant invitations by various committees of the National Assembly to chief executives of businesses are forcing foreign and local businesses to close operations in Nigeria, the Organised Private Sector in Nigeria (OPSN) has said.

The OPSN, which is an umbrella body of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Nigeria Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA), Nigeria Association of Small-Scale Industries (NASSI) and Nigeria Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME), explained in Abuja yesterday that numerous invitations and summons of organized businesses for investigative hearings under sections 88 and 89 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended are anti-business and major stumbling block for ease of doing business in the country.

The Director General of MAN, Segun Ajayi-Kadiri, who spoke on behalf of the group, faulted the National Assembly for investigating private businesses thereby exercising the power they do not have.

He said: “Recently, several letters were received by our member companies from the Ad-hoc Committee on Non-Remittance to the National Housing Fund and Utilization of the Fund from 2011 to Date, and the Ad-hoc Committee to investigate the Compliance of Ministries, Departments and Agencies of Government and Corporate Bodies with the Industrial Training Fund Act, amongst other Committees. While we appreciate the efforts of the National Assembly and its various Committees and Ad-hoc Committees to investigate and carry out oversight functions on Ministries, Departments and Agencies of Government, we are of the view that sections 88 and 89 of the Constitution, relied upon by the Committees of the National Assembly does not apply to Businesses in the Private Sector.”

He argued that from the doctrine of separation of powers, there are statutory agencies of government in the executive arm that have been saddled with responsibilities to engage, inspect, audit and apportion penalties for default (if any), ensure enforcement and compliance of provisions of laws and/or legal instruments within their jurisdictions, institute legal actions against businesses in the private sector, where necessary.

Ajayi-Kadiri insisted that concerned agencies have been engaging businesses in the private sector and also carrying out their responsibilities.

Rather than disrupt the activities of private entities that do not draw funding from the government, he maintained that government entities that have statutory responsibilities should be invited for clarifications.

“Government entities should be invited to give information and account for the levels of compliance as it relates to the provisions of their enabling laws and not private businesses. In order words, the National Assembly should not be the lawmakers and enforcers/implementers of the same laws,” he said.

The MAN Scribe noted that chief executives of businesses are inundated with letters, invitations/summons from the National Assembly which are often laced with threats.

He disclosed that the continuous invitation from the committees of the National Assembly compelled the body to institute an action in 2012 for the interpretation of the constitutionality, scope and extent of sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution on businesses in the private sector.

He added: “The matter is currently at the Supreme Court with Suit No/SC/734/2017. Being parties in the suit did not deter the various Committees of the National Assembly from continually inviting our members for interrogation. Thus, it appears that the continuous invitations and related activities by the various Committees and Ad-hoc Committees are at variance and unmindful of the proceedings in court and the Supreme Court itself. We expect that the National Assembly will take further action as a proof of respect for the principle of separation of powers, pending the decision of the Court.”

The business body said it is anxious that if the trend remains unchecked, other committees may adopt the same practice and the situation may degenerate into a bedlam.

He said: “Some of the implications would be the closure of companies in the country, loss of employment by Nigerians, the country’s loss of revenue through taxes and levies from the companies, unrest and increase in insecurity etc.”

Ajayi-Kadiri further observed that the practice creates a duplication of the regulatory functions and activities of the various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government, with the National Assembly also assuming the roles, functions and responsibilities of the MDAs and the executive arm of Government, amongst others.