Reps issue final summons to FCT council officials over about ₦100bn audit queries
The House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee has issued a final summons to senior officials of the six Federal Capital Territory area councils over unresolved audit queries involving about ₦100 billion.
The Directors of Personnel Management and Finance, as well as Heads of Audit of Abaji, Abuja Municipal Area Council, Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kuje and Kwali, have been directed to appear before the committee on October 14, 2026.
The committee said the summons followed repeated failures by the area councils to honour invitations and provide documents needed to address queries arising from their audited accounts.
The six council chairmen had requested September 22 as a date to appear before the committee but did not attend or send representatives, according to the committee.
Queries trace back to 2021 audit report
The issues under review arise principally from the Annual Audit Report of the Auditor-General for the Six FCT Area Councils for the year ended December 31, 2021.
The report identified about ₦7.65 billion in outstanding liabilities across the councils, including unremitted pension deductions, Pay As You Earn tax, Value Added Tax, withholding tax and unpaid obligations to contractors.
A reported breakdown put AMAC’s outstanding liabilities at about ₦2.19 billion, Bwari’s at ₦1.49 billion, Kwali’s at ₦1.46 billion, Gwagwalada’s at ₦1.01 billion, Kuje’s at ₦892.2 million and Abaji’s at ₦593.8 million.
The committee is also seeking explanations and supporting records for about ₦24.87 billion spent by the six councils on personnel, overheads and capital expenditure in 2021.
About ₦100bn remains under review
The wider figure of about ₦100 billion refers to unresolved audit queries and alleged financial irregularities being examined by the committee.
It is not a finding that ₦100 billion was stolen, lost or misappropriated.
An audit query is a request for explanation, documentation or clarification on financial transactions or accounting issues. Any finding of wrongdoing would require further evidence and due process.
The Public Accounts Committee has said the councils must provide the records and explanations necessary to resolve the outstanding issues.
Asset records and later accounts also questioned
The Auditor-General’s report also raised concerns about the maintenance of fixed-asset registers.
Gwagwalada Area Council was specifically cited over non-current assets valued at about ₦336 million that were said not to have been properly recorded and updated.
Public Accounts Committee chairman Bamidele Salam also said the committee had identified further concerns in reports covering 2022 and part of 2023, including alleged understatement of internally generated revenue, unauthorised disposal of assets, non-disclosure of statutory revenue and failure to remit withholding tax.
Salam also said the councils had not audited and submitted their financial accounts for 2023, 2024 and 2025.
Those statements remain committee claims requiring responses from the affected councils and should not be treated as final findings of misconduct.
Final summons raises accountability stakes
The committee has described the October 14 appearance as a final opportunity for the summoned officials to provide the requested documents and explanations.
The current summons is directed at the Directors of Personnel Management and Finance and the Heads of Audit of the six area councils.
The earlier failure of the council chairmen to appear is relevant background, but it should not be confused with the officials now summoned to appear.
The committee warned that failure to comply could lead to sanctions under relevant service rules.
The immediate accountability issue is therefore not only the substance of the audit queries, but whether the councils will comply with parliamentary scrutiny and provide records capable of resolving them.
The matter has direct citizen relevance because the six area councils administer public funds used for local services.
That does not establish that any specific service failure was caused by the transactions now under review.
Council responses still needed
At the time of this report, IDNN had not located substantive responses from each of the six councils addressing the specific audit queries, the outstanding-liability figures or the committee’s allegations concerning later financial accounts.
The absence of a public response should not be treated as proof of wrongdoing.
Those responses remain material to a balanced assessment of the issues under review.
The next major development will be whether the summoned officials appear on October 14 with the required records, and whether their explanations resolve, narrow or deepen the outstanding queries.
