EXTRA: ‘Your documents are disorganised’ — reps turn back NEPZA director at MTEF hearing

A house of representatives committee, on Wednesday, refused to listen to a presentation by the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) over “disorganised” documents.

NEPZA is one of the government agencies that appeared before the house committee on finance at the interactive session on the 2023-2025 medium-term expenditure framework (MTEF).

The federal executive council (FEC) had approved the 2023-2025 MTEF in July.

At the hearing, Saidu Abdullahi, deputy chairman of the committee, who presided over the session, called on NEPZA to make its presentation. 

Oyesola Oyekunle, director of finance and accounts, who represented Adesoji Adesugba, NEPZA managing director, made his way to the seat for invited agencies, while copies of the agency’s document were shared with members of the committee. 

“Your document is so disorganised,” Abdullahi said while looking through. 

“NEPZA, we cannot work with this. This is so disjointed; we can’t work with this.” 

Making reference to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) which had made a presentation minutes before, Abdullahi said “agencies that are not as big as you (NEPZA) are organised”. 

“This is what NAN presented. You can easily make reference to pages,” he said.

The lawmaker asked NEPZA to organise the documents and re-present it to the committee before Monday. 

“With these disjointed papers, you have not given us the chance to take you today,” he said. 

“Clerk, we are going to take them next Tuesday. So please, go back home, prepare your books very well, do your submission before Monday so that we can take you on Tuesday. We cannot work with this.”