The House of Representatives Committee on Polytechnic and Higher Technical Education has expressed displeasure over the absence of the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, at its meeting.
Chairman of the committee, Fuad Laguda, said the committee had written seven times to invite the minister to appear and address issues in the education sector, particularly on technical education and other reforms in the sector.
The chairman said: “ It’s with heavy displeasure, disheartening to say that our meeting will not be able to move forward because our invited participants of the meeting, the Ministry of Education, starting from the Minister of Education, are not present for the meeting.”
He said the committee had, since January, requested information from the ministry on activities relating to technical education and training programmes.
“We can’t have a one-party meeting. It has to be dual. But the minister is not here,” Laguda said.
Some members of the committee called for action against the minister over his absence.
A member of the committee, Adebayo Adepoju, described the minister’s absence as unacceptable and called for a vote of no confidence.
“Mr Chairman, I think this is a direct affront on the parliament. We are here to represent our people and we have a job to do. I think this is one too many. We need to do something immediately,” Adepoju said.
Another member, Kalejaiye Paul, appealed for calm and urged the committee to give the minister a new date to appear.
After a closed-door session, the chairman announced that the minister is expected to appear before the committee on September 17, 2026.
