Reps threaten action against Science Minister over bill

By Gift ChapiOdekina, Abuja The House of Representatives has threatened legislative action against the Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Dr Kingsley Tochukwu Udeh, over his failure to attend a public hearing on a bill seeking to establish a National Research and Innovation Development Fund. The lawmakers warned that the ministry’s absence could delay the proposed legislation and undermine President Bola Tinubu’s efforts to attract international research grants and funding from development partners, donor agencies, United Nations organisations and Nigerians in the diaspora.

The House Committee on Science and Technology expressed displeasure that neither the minister nor the ministry’s Permanent Secretary or any senior representative attended the hearing, despite the ministry’s direct responsibility for the subject matter of the bill, HB 2821. The committee also noted that the proposed legislation was sponsored by the executive and transmitted to the National Assembly by President Tinubu.

Speaking at the hearing, a member of the committee, Hon. Ahmed Usman Jaha, representing Chibok, Damboa and Gwoza Federal Constituency of Borno State, described the ministry’s absence as a possible act of sabotage against the working relationship between the executive and legislative arms of government. Jaha, who spoke on behalf of the committee, said it was difficult to understand why a ministry directly concerned with an executive-sponsored bill of national importance would fail to participate in its consideration.

“Unfortunately, some members of the executive are by extension sabotaging this relationship. The reason why I call it sabotage is that I see no reason whereby the executive can present a bill to the House for consideration, and that bill has national importance, but the ministry responsible for it will not show up,” he said. He disclosed that the committee had invited the Ministers of Justice, Innovation, Science and Technology, Education, Environment, Agriculture and Food Security, Health, Livestock Development, and Industry, Trade and Investment, alongside other stakeholders, to contribute to the legislative process.

However, none of the invited ministers attended the hearing. Jaha said the absence of the Science and Technology Minister was particularly concerning, insisting that either the minister or the Permanent Secretary should have appeared before the committee. “We are not averse to the Ministry of Justice and other ministries that are not directly linked to the bill.

But our concern this time around is the Ministry of Science and Technology. If any minister may not have time to attend, they may end up sending representatives. But the Minister of Science and Technology himself, who is more or less the sponsor of the bill, or in a worst-case scenario, the Permanent Secretary, must show up,” he said. The lawmaker further expressed concern that an international stakeholder who travelled from Kenya honoured the committee’s invitation, while the ministry directly responsible for the proposed legislation failed to participate.

He cited the African Technology Policy Studies Network, whose representative reportedly informed the committee that several African countries had established national research and innovation funds, while Nigeria was yet to establish a similar framework despite its research potential. Jaha said the committee had given the minister and Permanent Secretary another opportunity to appear before the conclusion of the public hearing, warning that their continued absence would compel lawmakers to move a motion of urgent public importance at the next sitting of the House.

He said the motion would bring the ministry’s conduct to the attention of the House and the Nigerian public. “With this attitude, they will end up delaying the bill. Maybe Mr President is trying to expedite the process of establishing this agency so that Nigeria can benefit from research grants from donor agencies, the diaspora, international communities, UN agencies and international non-governmental organisations willing to fund research,” he said.

Jaha maintained that the hearing also provided an opportunity for the minister to raise objections, identify contentious provisions and propose amendments to the bill. He warned that failure to engage with the proposed reforms could undermine Nigeria’s ambition to reposition its research and innovation sector and attract international funding. Committee seeks sustainable funding, accountability Earlier, Chairman of the House Committee on Science and Technology, Hon.

Zakariya Tijjani Zannah, called for a sustainable financing structure, transparent governance and an independent grant allocation mechanism for the proposed fund. Zannah said Nigeria had the intellectual capacity and research talent to drive technological advancement but lacked a dependable legal and institutional framework to finance research, coordinate activities and translate scientific discoveries into