The House of Representatives ad-hoc committee investigating non-remittance to the National Housing Fund (NHF) and utilisation of funds from 2011 to date Thursday, August 31, has threatened that Chief Executive Officers (CEO) of banks who failed to honour its invitation, would be subpoenaed.

The chairman of the committee, Dachung Musa Bagos, at an investigative hearing on Thursday, frowned at the attitude of the CEOs who he said pretended to travel out of the country whenever they were invited by the parliament.

The panel gave the defaulting banks Thursday next week to appear with all the required information.

It also directed the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Oluwatoyin Madein and the acting governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Folashidun Shonubi, to appear in person on Thursday.

He warned that the committee will not hesitate to invoke the provisions of the law against anyone who attempts to undermine its authority or sabotage the investigation.

Bagos stated: “We will not tolerate a situation whereby CEOs shy away from coming up to give evidence. Each time all the CEOs claim they have travelled abroad.

“We insist on having the Accountant General of the Federation and the acting governor of the CBN appear before this Honourable committee unfailingly next Thursday at 11 am. We are not going to entertain their representatives.”

The director of Banking Supervision, Haruna Mustapha, who represented the CBN Governor was sent away.

The committee also sent away a Director in the Ministry of Finance, Emma Deko, who represented the AGF insisting that she must appear in person.

Bagos said: “Today, we invited all the banks but only UBA, Zenith, Heritage and Sterling Bank. We’ll not take it lightly with the absentee banks any longer. They must appear next Thursday.” (The Nation)

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