Reps Fail to Carry Out Arrest Threats on NIMC DG

Reps Fail to Carry Out Arrest Threats on NIMC DG

The House of Representatives has failed to arrest the Director-General of National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Abisoye Coker-Odusote, even after allegedly constantly disregarding the summons by its committee investigating a suspected contract violation.

Coker-Odusote has been invited before the committee for questioning over Truid Limited’s allegations of contract breach of software development license agreement by NIMC.

The dispute between Truid Limited and NIMC began in 2021, when Truid alleged that it had funded and installed a tokenization system for NIMC on a contract that allowed it to recoup its investments through revenue sharing for 10 years.

The contract was however.allegedly terminated after Coker-Odusote came into office in August 2023. Truid Limited has since gone to the House Committee on Public Petitions, which has been investigating the matter.

Despite the threat by the committee chairman, Mike Etaba, that Coker-Odusote would be arrested if she failed to show up before the committee, nothing has been done. Etaba, in February 2025, threatened that if Coker-Odusote failed to appear at the next hearing on March 13, the Inspector-General of Police would be asked to arrest her. But more than two weeks after the deadline ended, Coker-Odusote remains at her post, and the committee appear helpless.

Etaba has criticized Coker-Odusote’s absence, questioning how a government official would ignore constituted authority. However, when asked what the status of the case was, he said the matter had been “stepped down” for Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).

“The committee is mum on it until we get the ADR report,” he clarified, without revealing a time line for conclusion.

The failure of the House of Representatives to act against Coker-Odusote has raised questions about the committee’s resolve to hold government officials accountable. While the case against Truid Limited is still pending, NIMC has been making progress in identity management, having recently launched a multipurpose national ID card and partnered with banks to make collection more convenient, enhancing financial inclusion and digital transactions in Nigeria.

Attempts to get NIMC’s spokesman, Kayode Adegoke, to comment on the incident were not successful. The issue indicates the challenge in holding public officers accountable before the House of Representatives, as well as the need for transparency and accountability in the awarding of public contracts and agreements. Since the matter is still pending, Nigerians are looking to see if the House of Representatives will also act on the supposed contract breach and call out government officials into account for their actions.