Juliet Akoje in Abuja
The House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has threatened to safe arrest warrants towards the Rector of the Federal Polytechnic, Ede, Engr. Sani Man Yahaya, and the establishment’s Bursar, Aishat Shade Adebayo, ought to they fail to seem earlier than the panel on Monday, October 19, 2026, to deal with excellent audit queries, alleged procurement irregularities and different considerations referring to monetary administration.
Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Bamidele Salam, made this recognized yesterday when the panel adopted the report of its technical committee, which examined submissions by six tertiary establishments in response to audit queries raised by the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation.
The motion adopted the Committee’s overview of unresolved points contained within the Federal Polytechnic, Ede’s 2021 Audit Report, findings from its oversight train within the South-West geopolitical zone and a petition submitted to the panel.
The lawmakers expressed dissatisfaction with the repeated failure of the Rector and Bursar to honour invites to seem earlier than the Committee, describing their absence as worrisome given the excellent audit queries and different issues for which they had been anticipated to offer explanations.
The Committee warned that it might invoke the related constitutional and legislative powers of the House of Representatives to safe their arrest and compel their look if the Rector, Bursar and different officers involved didn’t attend the scheduled listening to on Monday, October 19, 2026.
It emphasised that the officers should seem earlier than the panel to reply the unresolved audit queries, make clear allegations of economic irregularities and submit related paperwork wanted for the continuing investigations.
The Committee additional revealed that an inspection carried out by its crew on the establishment uncovered what it described as poor undertaking execution, with the extent of labor allegedly carried out on some tasks falling wanting the quantities already disbursed to contractors.
It additionally disclosed that a number of petitions had been acquired towards the establishment’s administration, elevating allegations of various types of monetary misconduct.
According to the Committee, three audit queries referring to the establishment’s 2021 monetary 12 months remained unresolved.
They involved an unretired money advance, the engagement of an exterior solicitor with out approval from the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, and international journeys undertaken with out proof of authorisation by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.
The panel additionally faulted the establishment for submitting its audited monetary statements for the 2022, 2023 and 2024 monetary years late, noting that the delay contravened current rules and statutory necessities governing monetary reporting.
During its South-West oversight train, the Committee recognized a considerable discrepancy between the establishment’s permitted overhead finances and its precise expenditure for 2023.
Although N110.2 million was permitted for overhead prices for the 12 months, the establishment’s audited accounts confirmed that precise expenditure reached N882.5 million, leading to extra spending of roughly N772 million.
The Committee additionally questioned an estimated budgetary slack of N268.5 million within the establishment’s personnel expenditure for a similar monetary 12 months.
Records offered to the panel indicated that the permitted personnel finances was N2.862 billion, whereas precise expenditure stood at N2.593 billion.
The distinction raised considerations about whether or not satisfactory due diligence was carried out in making ready the establishment’s finances estimates.
Another situation recognized by the Committee was the absence of documentary proof displaying that the establishment had complied with the obligatory remittance of 1 per cent of personnel emoluments to the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) between 2023 and 2025.
The lawmakers additional expressed dissatisfaction with the establishment’s failure to offer procurement paperwork overlaying capital expenditure and tasks funded by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), regardless of repeated requests by the Committee.
They described the failure to provide the data as an obstacle to legislative oversight, stressing that withholding the paperwork denied the panel entry to data essential to assess procurement actions and implement accountability in the usage of public funds.
During a bodily inspection of an ongoing lecture theatre building undertaking on the establishment’s everlasting web site, members of the Committee reportedly noticed building work they thought-about substandard.
The inspection crew found that the concrete flooring resulting in the lecture theatre entrance had been poorly executed, with the fabric reportedly so weak that it may very well be damaged with the arms and ft.
The discovery heightened considerations about the usual of building and whether or not the standard of labor delivered by the contractor mirrored the sum of money already paid for the undertaking.
Following the inspection, the Committee directed the establishment to submit the undertaking’s Bill of Quantities, procurement paperwork and the id and particulars of the contractor dealing with the development for additional scrutiny.
However, the establishment failed to offer the requested data.
The panel additionally raised considerations over N20.5 million reportedly but to be credited to the Retirement Savings Accounts of some staff of the establishment by Stanbic IBTC Pension and Access Pension.
The findings attributed the delay to the establishment’s alleged failure to provide the pension fund directors with correct worker particulars, together with the Personal Identification Numbers connected to the employees’ Retirement Savings Accounts (RSA PINs).
According to the Committee, the delay may trigger the affected staff to lose curiosity and different funding returns that might have accrued to their retirement financial savings if the contributions had been credited to their accounts promptly.
Salam reaffirmed the Committee’s willpower to advertise transparency, accountability and strict compliance with monetary rules within the administration of public sources.
He maintained that public establishments should be able to justify their expenditure, produce requested monetary and procurement data, and supply passable explanations for audit queries raised by the related authorities.
The Committee additional warned that it might not overlook repeated situations of public officers ignoring its invites, withholding related paperwork or failing to satisfactorily deal with considerations raised throughout legislative investigations.
It reiterated that the House of Representatives would deploy its related powers, together with measures to compel the attendance of the Rector, Bursar and different officers involved, in the event that they failed to seem earlier than the panel on Monday as directed.
The Committee additionally said that the petitions submitted towards the establishment’s administration can be examined alongside the audit findings and different out there proof in step with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and relevant legal guidelines.
