N100bn Audit Queries: Reps Issue Final Summons to FCT Area Council Officials

The House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee has issued a seven-day final summons to senior officials of the six Area Councils in the Federal Capital Territory over unresolved audit queries involving alleged financial irregularities running into about N100 billion.

The committee directed the Directors of Personnel Management and Finance, alongside Heads of Audit of the councils, to appear before it on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, warning that failure to honour the summons would attract sanctions in line with relevant service rules.

The development followed the repeated failure of the six Area Council chairmen to appear before the committee to respond to questions arising from the Auditor-General’s Annual Audit Report for the councils for the year ended December 31, 2021.

The affected councils are Abaji, Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kuje and Kwali.

The council chairmen had earlier requested September 22, 2026, for their appearance before the committee, but none appeared or sent representatives to respond to the issues raised.

According to the audit report, the six councils had outstanding liabilities of about N7.65 billion as of December 31, 2021.

The liabilities reportedly comprised unremitted pension deductions, Pay As You Earn (PAYE), Value Added Tax (VAT), withholding tax and unpaid obligations to contractors.

AMAC accounted for the highest outstanding liability at N2.19 billion, followed by Bwari with N1.49 billion and Kwali with N1.46 billion.Gwagwalada had outstanding liabilities of N1.01 billion, while Kuje and Abaji had N892.2 million and N593.8 million respectively.

The Auditor-General said the outstanding funds were due for remittance to relevant authorities and institutions, including the Nigeria Revenue Service, FCT Inland Revenue Service, Pension Fund Administrators and contractors.

The audit report also raised concerns over the councils’ management of fixed assets, citing weaknesses in the maintenance and updating of asset registers.

Gwagwalada Area Council was specifically mentioned over non-current assets valued at N336 million which, according to the report, were not properly recorded and updated.

The Auditor-General warned that poor maintenance of asset records could create room for public assets to be lost without being properly traced.

The Public Accounts Committee is also demanding explanations and supporting documents concerning N24.87 billion reportedly spent by the six councils on personnel, overheads and capital expenditure in 2021.

AMAC accounted for N5.03 billion of the expenditure, followed by Gwagwalada with N4.66 billion, Kuje with N3.85 billion, Kwali with N3.84 billion, Bwari with N3.74 billion and Abaji with N3.71 billion.

Speaking with journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, the Chairman of the committee, Bamidele Salam, said the councils had repeatedly ignored invitations and failed to provide documents required to resolve the audit queries.

Salam said the September 22 appearance date was granted after being requested by the councils, but they still failed to appear or send representatives.

He warned that the relevant officials would face consequences if they failed to honour the latest summons.

The committee also expressed concern over findings contained in the 2022 and part of the 2023 audit reports, including alleged understatement of Internally Generated Revenue, unauthorised disposal of assets, failure to disclose statutory revenue and non-remittance of withholding tax.

According to the committee, the councils have also 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 responsible for financial infractions would be held accountable in accordance with the law.

The Public Accounts Committee, established under the 1999 Constitution, is empowered to examine audited public accounts and investigate financial irregularities identified by the Auditor-General.

The October 14 summons is therefore aimed at compelling officials of the six FCT Area Councils to explain the outstanding audit queries and submit the documents required by the lawmakers.