By Naomi Sharang
Abuja – The Senate on Tuesday, threatened to sanction Dakuku Peterside, Director-General Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) over his failure to appear before its committee on Local Contents.
Chairman of the Committee, Sen. Teslim Folarin said this during an investigative hearing of the National Joint Committee on Local Content, Petroleum Downstream and Legislative Compliance at the assembly’s complex.
The committee is investigating breach of Nigerian laws by foreign vessel owners in the coastal region of the country.
Folarin lamented the decision of Peterside to shun the invitation despite several reminders.
He described the action of the NIMASA DG as unfortunate after he disallowed the leader of the NIMASA team not to introduce himself before he was asked to explain his mission and on what capacity he was appearing before the panel.
Folarin said, “It is very unfortunate that men in position of authority would flagrantly shun the invitation of the Senate.
“I spoke with Peterside about this event. He was supposed to come three weeks ago but he didn’t come.
“We rescheduled this event because of him. I called him and asked him to pick a date and he picked today, only for him to write the Clerk three days ago that the Senate Committee was coming to see him.
“This is an investigative hearing which supercedes any other engagement. We won’t sit here and be wasting our time. We will give him one more chance, just one chance. If he fails to honour the next invitation, we know what to do.”
Also, Chairman Committee on Nigerian Content in the House of Representatives Hon. Legor Idagbo while corroborating the position of Folarin, berated the behaviour of the NIMASA boss.
“I think we should be ashamed of ourselves as Nigerians. A situation where invitations are sent out and all we get are excuses. I’m aware that Sen. Folarin had conversation with the DG of NIMASA and he picked this date.
“The DG went through his calendar and picked this date only for him to send representatives to us.
“What the DG of NIMASA should have done is to explain to the House Committee that he already had an invitation to an investigative hearing from this joint committee.
“He could even honour our invitation and still meet up with his appointment with the House committee.
” We cannot continue like this as a country. We sit down at the comfort of our offices and live large. We copy what happens in other countries yet we failed to do what they do there. We fail to respect constituted authority.
“What engagement is more important than this type of investigative hearing. This type of attitude is unacceptable,” Idagbo said.
(NAN)
