From Kemi Yesufu, Abuja
Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila has said the National Assembly has the power to conduct an investigation on a matter involving privately run companies.
Speaking in his capacity as the chairman of the House Ad hoc Committee investigating the production and distribution of drinks manufactured by the Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC), and other drinks marketed in Nigeria, Gbajabiamila, stressed that it is erroneous to assume that the National Assembly will halt a probe because a party involved had taken the matter to court.
The lawmaker made the clarification, yesterday, at a meeting held in continuation of the three-day public hearing by the committee, where he chided the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) for going to court to challenge the National Assembly’s authority to investigate private firms. He called on interested stakeholders in the food and beverages industry to make submissions, rather than instituting cases in court against the House, as recommendations from the committee will be used in making laws to regulate the sector.
At the public hearing, Jude Mordi, who represented the Nigerian Institute of Food Science and Technology, (NIFST) blamed the failure of an exporter to comply with regulations, as set by United Kingdom government, on the quantity of ingredients used in carbonate drinks for the rejection of some locally-produced products.
“Some of these companies we sumoned are even quoted on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, yet, they turn around to say the National Assembly does not have jurisdiction over them.
“Are you a law unto yourselves simply because you are private? They’ve argued that the case is in court, that NECA has filled a case in court against the National Assembly summoning private individuals and companies. To their estimation and that of their lawyer, once a case in in court, it puts paid to any action of the National Assembly.
“But let me make this abundantly clear, the fact that a case is in court, it doesn’t operate as a stay of our statutory function,” he said.
Gbajabiamila urged that organisations recognise the fact that the welfare and security of Nigerians also form part of the responsibilities of the National Assembly.
“I went into this long explanation because there has to be mutual respect for constituted authority. And if we are trying to conduct an investigation, that touches the lives of the people we represent, any attempt to scuttle it will be met with the full weight of the law,” he said.
At the public hearing, Jude Mordi, who represented the Nigerian Institute of Food Science and Technology, (NIFST) blamed the failure of an exporter to comply with regulations, as set by United Kingdom (U.K) government, on the quantity of ingredients used in carbonate drinks for the rejection of some locally produced products.
“Would somebody buy products and then bring them to Nigeria without taking into cognisance the need to comply with our regulations? Doing such doesn’t make you business wise and you would be going against the law.
“So, why would a Nigerian buy goods from here and send them to the U.K without taking note of what the law says there. Well, he doesn’t understand the laws that regulate exportation of food products and he doesn’t care to know…because there is no law that regulates the practice of food science and technology in the country.”
Mordi, therefore appealed to the committee to impress on the National Assembly, the need to support the passage of a bill to regulate food science and technology practice in the country.
Recall that in March, a Lagos High Court sitting at Igbosere in the judgment given by Justice Adedayo Oyebanji, ordered NAFDAC to order the NBC Plc to put a written warning on Fanta and Sprite bottles stating that both soft drinks are poisonous when consumed along with Vitamin C.
The judgment was the outcome of a suit filed by a Lagos-based businessman, Dr. Emmanuel Fijabi Adebo, and his company, Fijabi Adebo Holdings Limited, against NBC Plc and NAFDAC.