Reps reject PTAD's budget presentation over absence of Executive Secretary

By DDoris Igwe

The House of Representatives Commitee on Pensions has expressed displeasure with with the Executive secretary of the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate, (PTAD), Dr. Chioma Ejikeme over her non-appearance before it for budget defence.

Consequently, the Committee declined to consider PTAD’s 2020 budget performance and 2021 budget proposal as it sent back officials who showed up for their 2021 budget defence and ordered them to reappear within 72 hours with their boss.

The Committee, led by Rep. Alhassan Kabir Rurum (APC, kano), took the resolution via a motion after the Director of Parastatals Pensions Department who represented the Executive Secretary had announced that he was representing his boss who was “unavoidably absent”.

A member of the committee, Rep. Chudu Mumah had moved the motion, calling the attention of the Chairman, Hon. Kabiru Hassan and other members to the absence of the Executive Secretary.

He said that there were serious issues to defend in the last year’s budget which only the Executive Secretary could satisfactorily answer to.

In his opinion, it would be counterproductive to delegate responsibility to the director who he said will not have all the answers.

He then proposed a 72-hour ultimatum to compel the appearance of Ejikeme.

“We can’t find the head of the agency. What can we tell Nigerians? It is the head of institutions that are liable. I don’t think we should entertain this. Nigerians don’t even know that there is anything called PTAD. Mr. Chairman, I am moving a motion that they should go back to wherever they came from,” the lawmaker said.

With the motion seconded, the Committee Chairman ruled that the officials should go back, fetch their boss and reappear on Tuesday next week.

Recall that the President, Muhammad Buhari on October 8, disclosed before a joint session of the National Assembly that “all heads of government Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs), must personally appear before the Legislature to defend their budget proposals.