The Nasarawa State House of Assembly has threatened to invoke all relevant sections of the Constitution to force the state Task Force Committee on COVID-19 to appear before its Ad-hoc committee on the pandemic.

This, the House said, followed the inability of the task force members to honour the invitation extended to them by the House Ad-hoc Committee on COVID-19 on Aug. 25.

Chairman of the committee and member representing Lafia Central, Mr Abdullahi Angibi (APC), issued the threat while briefing newsmen at the assembly’s complex in Lafia on Tuesday.

Angibi lamented that the House had through the Ad-hoc committee on COVID-19, invited members of the task force but instead of honouring the invitation, the body sent members of its Secretariat to the house.

”We invited the state task force and not the secretariat as we are not going to sit with the secretariat,” he said.

He re-emphasised that the House was only interested in meeting with the state task force and not members of the secretariat.

He, therefore, asked them to go back.

The chairman said that the House would not hesitate to apply its relevant laws stipulated by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to do the needful if the members of the task force failed to honour its further invitation.

Newsmen report that on July 28, the assembly constituted a six-member Ad hoc committee to monitor the activities of the state Task Force on COVID-19.

The constitution of the committee followed a motion to that effect moved by Daniel Ogazi (APC-Kokona East), under matters of urgent public importance, supported by Ibrahim Muluku (APC-Nasarawa Eggon East).

The assembly’s Speaker, Alhaji Ibrahim Abdullahi, who announced the constitution of the committee, said that the measure would enable the house to have a feedback on the activities of the task force.

He named Abdullahi Angibi of Lafia Central Constituency as the Chairman of the committee and Usman Labaran Shafa of Toto/Gadabuke constituency as the Vice Chairman.

”Other members of the committee are: Ibrahim Muluku, Daniel Ogazi, Abdulaziz Danladi, Suleiman Yakubu and the Secretary of the committee is Safiya Balarabe, ” Abdullahi said.