The House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee has on Tuesday, issued a final seven-day summons to officials of the six Federal Capital Territory Area Councils over unresolved financial queries running into billions of naira.
The committee summoned the Directors of Personnel Management and Finance, alongside the Heads of Audit of the councils, to appear before it on October 14, 2026, warning that failure to comply could attract sanctions under the relevant service rules.
The latest action followed the failure of the six council chairmen to honour an earlier invitation to appear before the committee on September 22.
The chairmen had personally requested the September date but neither appeared nor sent representatives to answer questions arising from audit findings.
The affected councils are Abaji, Abuja Municipal Area Council, Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kuje and Kwali.
The audit queries stem from the Auditor-General’s Annual Audit Report for the six FCT Area Councils for the financial year ended December 31, 2021.
Among the issues raised was an outstanding liability of about N7.65bn involving unremitted pension deductions, Pay As You Earn, Value Added Tax and withholding tax, as well as unpaid obligations to contractors.
AMAC recorded the highest outstanding liability at N2.19bn, followed by Bwari with N1.49bn and Kwali with N1.46bn.
Gwagwalada had N1.01bn in outstanding liabilities, while Kuje and Abaji were listed with N892.2m and N593.8m respectively.
According to the audit report, the outstanding funds were expected to be remitted to relevant tax authorities, pension fund administrators and contractors.
The Auditor-General also raised concerns about the councils’ management of fixed assets, noting that several asset registers were not properly maintained or updated.
Gwagwalada was specifically cited over non-current assets valued at N336m whose ledger records were allegedly not properly maintained.
The committee is also examining the expenditure of N24.87bn by the six councils in 2021.
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The expenditure covered personnel, overheads and capital projects, with the committee demanding explanations and supporting documents, particularly regarding capital expenditure.
Speaking with journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, Bamidele Salam, said the councils had repeatedly failed to cooperate with the committee in resolving the audit queries.
Salam said the September 22 appearance date had been granted at the councils’ request, yet none of the chairmen appeared or sent representatives.
He said the committee had therefore resorted to summoning senior administrative, finance and audit officials of the councils.
The committee also disclosed that its examination of subsequent audit reports for 2022 and part of 2023 had uncovered additional concerns, including alleged understatement of internally generated revenue, unauthorised disposal of assets, non-disclosure of statutory revenue and failure to remit withholding tax.
The lawmakers further expressed concern that the six councils had allegedly failed to audit and submit their financial accounts for 2023, 2024 and 2025 as required by law.
Salam stressed that public funds must be managed transparently and prudently, adding that officials found culpable would be held accountable in line with the law.
The latest summons marks a renewed attempt by the House committee to compel officials of the six FCT councils to provide explanations and documents relating to the outstanding audit queries.