Reps Give FCT Councils Final 7-Day Summons Over N100bn Audit

The House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee has issued a final seven-day summons to officials of the six Federal Capital Territory Area Councils over unresolved audit queries involving about N100 billion, after the councils' chairmen again failed to appear before it.

The summons is for the Directors of Personnel Management, the Directors of Finance and the Heads of Audit of Abaji, Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kuje and Kwali. They have been directed to appear before the committee on October 14, 2026, or face sanctions in accordance with the relevant service rules.

The committee's chairman, Bamidele Salam, announced the decision to journalists in Abuja on Tuesday. He said the councils had repeatedly failed to answer invitations or provide the documents needed to resolve the queries, and that the committee had issued three separate invitations to the chairmen and finance directors. The chairmen had asked to appear on September 22, 2026, but did not show up.

The queries come from the Auditor-General's annual audit report on the six councils for the year ended December 31, 2021. The committee is asking about N7.65 billion in outstanding liabilities, of which AMAC accounts for about N2.19 billion, Bwari N1.49 billion, Kwali N1.46 billion, Gwagwalada N1.01 billion, Kuje N892.2 million and Abaji N593.8 million.

The committee also wants explanations and supporting documents on N24.87 billion the councils spent on personnel, overheads and capital projects in 2021. The reports do not itemise the rest of the roughly N100 billion in queries.

Lawmakers also raised concern that the six councils have failed to audit and submit their financial accounts for 2023, 2024 and 2025, as required by law. The Auditor-General's report cited weak record-keeping, including non-current assets worth N336 million at Gwagwalada that were allegedly not properly recorded and updated. It warned that poor records could allow assets to be lost without being traced, and said the problem is common among the FCT councils.

An audit query is a request for explanation, and it does not by itself prove wrongdoing. The reports say the allegations in the audit documents remain subject to responses from the affected councils and officials. The committee draws its power to examine public accounts and investigate irregularities flagged by the Auditor-General from the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

All eyes are on October 14, when the finance, personnel and audit officials are expected to appear with documents. Any sanctions will depend on what they present and on how the committee judges their responses. This is the committee's second major audit hearing this week, following its probe of N802 billion in audit queries involving NNPCL, INEC and HYPREP.

247NewsCheck will follow the hearing and report verified updates.

Source and attribution: This 247NewsCheck report is based on statements by the Public Accounts Committee chairman and on reports by Nigerian outlets including Vanguard, Daily Trust, The Guardian and Premium Times. The queries are allegations in audit documents, not findings of wrongdoing, and are not independent conclusions by 247NewsCheck.