Juliet Akoje in Abuja
The House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has threatened to secure arrest warrants against the Rector of the Federal Polytechnic, Ede, Engr. Sani Man Yahaya, and the institution’s Bursar, Aishat Shade Adebayo, should they fail to appear before the panel on Monday, October 19, 2026, to address outstanding audit queries, alleged procurement irregularities and other concerns relating to financial management.
Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Bamidele Salam, made this known yesterday when the panel adopted the report of its technical committee, which examined submissions by six tertiary institutions in response to audit queries raised by the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation.
The action followed the Committee’s review of unresolved issues contained in the Federal Polytechnic, Ede’s 2021 Audit Report, findings from its oversight exercise in 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 invitations to appear before the Committee, describing their absence as worrisome given the outstanding audit queries and other matters for which they were expected to provide explanations.
The Committee warned that it would invoke the relevant constitutional and legislative powers of the House of Representatives to secure their arrest and compel their appearance if the Rector, Bursar and other officials concerned failed to attend the scheduled hearing on Monday, October 19, 2026.
It emphasised that the officials must appear before the panel to answer the unresolved audit queries, clarify allegations of financial irregularities and submit relevant documents needed for the ongoing investigations.
The Committee further revealed that an inspection conducted by its team at the institution exposed what it described as poor project execution, with the level of work allegedly carried out on some projects falling short of the amounts already disbursed to contractors.
It also disclosed that several petitions had been received against the institution’s management, raising allegations of different forms of financial misconduct.
According to the Committee, three audit queries relating to the institution’s 2021 financial year remained unresolved.
They concerned an unretired cash advance, the engagement of an external solicitor without approval from the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, and foreign trips undertaken without evidence of authorisation by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.
The panel also faulted the institution for submitting its audited financial statements for the 2022, 2023 and 2024 financial years late, noting that the delay contravened existing regulations and statutory requirements governing financial reporting.
During its South-West oversight exercise, the Committee identified a substantial discrepancy between the institution’s approved overhead budget and its actual expenditure for 2023.
Although N110.2 million was approved for overhead costs for the year, the institution’s audited accounts showed that actual expenditure reached N882.5 million, resulting in excess spending of approximately N772 million.
The Committee also questioned an estimated budgetary slack of N268.5 million in the institution’s personnel expenditure for the same financial year.
Records presented to the panel indicated that the approved personnel budget was N2.862 billion, while actual expenditure stood at N2.593 billion.
The difference raised concerns about whether adequate due diligence was conducted in preparing the institution’s budget estimates.
Another issue identified by the Committee was the absence of documentary evidence showing that the institution had complied with the mandatory remittance of one per cent of personnel emoluments to the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) between 2023 and 2025.
The lawmakers further expressed dissatisfaction with the institution’s failure to provide procurement documents covering capital expenditure and projects funded by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), despite repeated requests by the Committee.
They described the failure to produce the records as an impediment to legislative oversight, stressing that withholding the documents denied the panel access to information necessary to assess procurement activities and enforce accountability in the use of public funds.
During a physical inspection of an ongoing lecture theatre construction project at the institution’s permanent site, members of the Committee reportedly observed construction work they considered substandard.
The inspection team discovered that the concrete flooring leading to the lecture theatre entrance had been poorly executed, with the material reportedly so weak that it could be broken with the hands and feet.
The discovery heightened concerns about the standard of construction and whether the quality of work delivered by the contractor reflected the amount of money already paid for the project.
Following the inspection, the Committee directed the institution to submit the project’s Bill of Quantities, procurement documents and the identity and details of the contractor handling the construction for further scrutiny.
However, the institution failed to provide the requested records.
The panel also raised concerns over N20.5 million reportedly yet to be credited to the Retirement Savings Accounts of some employees of the institution by Stanbic IBTC Pension and Access Pension.
The findings attributed the delay to the institution’s alleged failure to supply the pension fund administrators with accurate employee details, including the Personal Identification Numbers attached to the workers’ Retirement Savings Accounts (RSA PINs).
According to the Committee, the delay could cause the affected employees to lose interest and other investment returns that would have accrued to their retirement savings if the contributions had been credited to their accounts promptly.
Salam reaffirmed the Committee’s determination to promote transparency, accountability and strict compliance with financial regulations in the management of public resources.
He maintained that public institutions must be ready to justify their expenditure, produce requested financial and procurement records, and provide satisfactory explanations for audit queries raised by the relevant authorities.
The Committee further warned that it would not overlook repeated instances of public officials ignoring its invitations, withholding relevant documents or failing to satisfactorily address concerns raised during legislative investigations.
It reiterated that the House of Representatives would deploy its relevant powers, including measures to compel the attendance of the Rector, Bursar and other officials concerned, if they failed to appear before the panel on Monday as directed.
The Committee also stated that the petitions submitted against the institution’s management would be examined alongside the audit findings and other available evidence in line with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and applicable laws.