Hussaini Magaji, registrar-general of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), on Monday apologised to the senate committee on finance over his failure to honour previous invitations.
Magaji appeared before the committee after lawmakers asked President Bola Tinubu to sack him over his “repeated refusal” to honour their summons.
The committee adopted the resolution during a budget defence session, with Orji Kalu, senator representing Abia north, moving a motion that Magaji be reported to the president for immediate removal.
Sani Musa, chairman of the committee and senator representing Niger east, accused the CAC boss of repeatedly ignoring summons.
Appearing before the panel on Monday, Magaji apologised for his absence and attributed it to a communication gap.
“I sincerely tender my apology. Sir, it is not our conduct; and it’s not my conduct. I hold this committee in high esteem,” he said.
“What happened that day, sir, is actually a miscommunication between our staff and the committee.
“I was coming from Lagos, and I asked them to call, to let the committee know that I am coming because we received the letter a few minutes before that day.
“So I had to leave some of the activities that took me to Lagos and rushed back. Unfortunately, I came late.”
Magaji said he had since identified internal communication lapses within the commission.
“I observed that I have issues internally in my commission concerning communication between the national assembly and my commission,” he said.
“And as a result of that, sir, we created an office now dedicated purposely as a liaison with the national assembly; so that something like that cannot happen again.
“This is my undertaking, sir, it will never happen again. I hold this committee with high esteem, and I took responsibility for what happened by tendering my apology, sir.”
Several senators acknowledged his remorse and urged the committee to reconsider its earlier position.
Diket Plang, senator representing Plateau central, asked that Magaji be given a second chance, while Yahaya Abdullahi, former senate leader, cautioned that legislative summons must not be ignored again.
Isah Jibrin, senator representing Kogi east, moved a motion to rescind the committee’s previous recommendation for Magaji’s removal.
The motion, seconded by Nasir Zangon, senator representing Katsina north, was unanimously adopted.
On his part, Musa reiterated the authority of the national assembly.
“The National Assembly is above everyone else,” he said.
“The Constitution empowers this institution to hold the President and other officeholders accountable, including impeachment if necessary. No one should take this committee for granted.”
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