As the President Muhammadu Buhari government gradually winds down, there is a growing trend among its highly-placed officials to defy laws put in place in the Constitution to ensure accountability.

First, it was the refusal of the Chiefs of the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigerian Army and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to submit themselves at our correctional centres after being convicted for contempt by various courts. Now, it is the spurning of invitations by 100 Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, of the Senate’s summonses to provide answers as to how they spent monies appropriated to them.

Sequel to the complaints by the Senate Committee on Public Accounts led by Senator Matthew Urhogide, that these MDAs have recalcitrantly ignored their several summonses to give an account of the spending of their previous Service Wide Votes, SWVs, the Senate gave them one more week from last week Wednesday to comply or face severe sanctions. The ultimatum expires today.

The affected MDAs include those at the very heart of governance, such as the State House, Presidential Air Fleet, Ministry of Finance, the Nigerian Army, Navy, Air Force, Police, Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Independent National Electoral Commission and a host of others.

Under the Constitution, the National Assembly has the power to make laws, appropriate finance, oversee how public funds are spent and bring those appropriated funds to account. These MDAs are required to show how they spent funds to the tune of N1.9 trillion allocated to them between 2017 and 2021 in response to queries raised against them by the Auditor-General of the Federation.

Some of these government bodies never officially responded to letters notifying them of the Auditor-General’s queries and to appear and clear themselves. They are being accused of frivolous spending, misappropriation, inability to account for funds appropriated to them, payment of salaries to dead or retired staff and others.

The huge number of MDAs, some of which directly operate under a president who touts anti-corruption as a cardinal priority of his government, shows how seriously the anti-graft war is taken these days. No one appears to lead the anti-graft war any longer. Why else would officials refuse to disclose how they spent funds assigned to them for upward of five years?

We encourage the Senate to make good its threat to withhold 2023 appropriation to any MDA that fails to report at the expiry of the ultimatum. By the time the president’s aircraft fails to take off due to lack of funds, for instance, he will be forced to compel his officials to go and clear themselves. The regulations for the proper handling of public funds must be enforced.

•President Buhari

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