Reps threaten action as ministers shun research fund hearing

The House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology has threatened to report the Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Kingsley Udeh, to the House over his failure to attend a public hearing on a bill seeking to establish a National Research and Innovation Development Fund.

The committee described the minister’s absence, alongside that of the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, as unacceptable, particularly as the proposed legislation was sponsored by the executive and transmitted to the National Assembly by President Bola Tinubu.

It warned that the ministry’s failure to participate in the legislative process could delay the passage of the bill and undermine efforts to attract research grants from international development partners, donor agencies, United Nations bodies and Nigerians in the diaspora.

The committee, chaired by Zakariya Zannah, said it would consider raising a motion of urgent public importance at the next sitting of the House if Udeh and the Permanent Secretary failed to appear before it.

The threat followed the absence of the minister and other invited ministers at the public hearing on the proposed legislation, which seeks to establish the National Research and Innovation Development Fund and a National Council on Research and Innovation.

Speaking on behalf of the committee, a member, Ahmed Jaha, who represents Chibok, Damboa and Gwoza Federal Constituency of Borno State, described the ministry’s failure to attend as an act of sabotage against the cordial relationship between the executive and legislative arms of government.

Jaha said it was difficult to understand why a ministry whose responsibilities directly covered the subject of an executive-sponsored bill would fail to participate in its consideration.

He explained that the proposed Fund was designed to provide a coordinated financing framework for research institutions across the country and create opportunities for Nigeria to attract grants from international organisations, development partners and Nigerians living abroad.

According to him, similar funding arrangements had helped advance research and innovation in several countries, making Nigeria’s proposed framework long overdue.

“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.

Jaha 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, among other stakeholders, to contribute to the consideration of the bill.

However, none of the invited ministers attended the hearing.

He said the committee was particularly concerned about Udeh’s absence, insisting that the minister or, at the very least, the Permanent Secretary should have appeared before the lawmakers.

“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.

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The lawmaker expressed further concern that an international stakeholder who travelled from Kenya to attend the hearing honoured the committee’s invitation, while the ministry directly responsible for the subject matter failed to participate.

He cited the African Technology Policy Studies Network, whose representative reportedly informed the committee that several member countries had established national research and innovation funds, while Nigeria was yet to put a similar framework in place despite its considerable research potential.

Jaha said the committee had given Udeh and the Permanent Secretary another opportunity to appear before the conclusion of the public hearing but warned that their continued absence would compel it to bring the matter before the House.

He said such a move would draw attention to the ministry’s conduct and the implications of its failure to participate in the consideration of the proposed legislation.

“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 public hearing was also an opportunity for the minister to express any reservations about the bill, identify areas of disagreement or propose amendments to its provisions before the committee submitted its report to the House.

He suggested that resistance to institutional change might have contributed to the ministry’s failure to attend, warning that such an attitude could frustrate efforts to reposition Nigeria’s research and innovation sector.

Earlier, the committee chairman, Zannah, called for a sustainable funding mechanism, transparent governance and an independent grant allocation process for the proposed Fund.

He said Nigeria had the intellectual capacity and research talent to drive innovation but lacked a dependable legal and institutional framework to finance research, coordinate activities and translate scientific discoveries into commercially viable products.

“No nation has grown its economy or secured its food and health without sustained investment in research and innovation. Nigeria has the talent; what we lack is a dependable legal and institutional framework to fund, coordinate and carry research from the laboratory to the marketplace,” he said.

Zannah said the public hearing provided an opportunity for stakeholders to scrutinise the bill, identify gaps and recommend improvements before further legislative consideration.

He urged participants to examine the governance structure of the proposed National Council and the management of the Fund, particularly the respective responsibilities of the council’s leadership, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, three General Managers, General Counsel and Joint Ministerial Committee on budgets.

Declaring the hearing open, Speaker of the House, Tajudeen Abbas, represented by the Deputy House Leader, Abdullahi Halims, described the proposed legislation as critical to Nigeria’s economic development and competitiveness in an increasingly knowledge-driven global economy.

He called for transparency, accountability and merit-based allocation of research grants, warning against arbitrary interference and political considerations in the administration of the Fund.