The House of Representatives Committee on Public Petitions has threatened to order the arrest of the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Safety and Administration Agency (NIMASA), Dayo Mobereola, if he fails to appear before the Committee on Wednesday, July 17.
The committee is investigating a petition against the agency by Abade-Toru Manga Community Development Initiative.
In the petition addressed to the Speaker of the House, the petitioners alleged that NIMASA failed to establish educational and skills acquisition projects in the coastal communities as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
They said NIMASA had made commitment in line with the recommendations at the Global Maritime Security Conference 2019 to introduce educational, entrepreneurship training, and skills acquisition programmes in the areas of fishing, clearing and forwarding, and legal bunkering, for people in the coastal communities.
They alleged that rather than living up to this commitment, the former Director General of the agency, Dr. Bashir Jamoh decided to build a Maritime Skill Acquisition Centre and Twin Lecture Theatre in Kaduna State, where he hails from.
As part of its investigations, the committee summoned the current DG, Dr. Dayo Mobereola to appear in person, to explain why NIMASA failed to replicate the skills acquisition centers in the five States where it operates (Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Bayelsa, Delta, and Rivers).
Chairman of the committee, Hon. Mike Etaba, said If the DG fail to appear, the Committee will direct the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to arrest and bring him before the committee.
He said the committee is exercising its investigative powers under Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), adding that governance is a continuum, and whatever Dr. Jamoh omitted to do for the coastal communities during his tenure can be done by Dr. Dayo Mobereola, who is now the Director-General of NIMASA.
