Rivers Assembly summons PAMO varsity VC over scholarship funds

The Rivers State House of Assembly has summoned the Vice-Chancellor of PAMO University of Medical Sciences, Port Harcourt, to appear before it and explain scholarship funds released to the university by the state government.

Also invited by the state legislature are the Accountant General of Rivers State, the State Commissioner for Education, the Permanent Secretary of the State Ministry of Education and other officials.

This comes barely a fortnight after the state House of Assembly rejected a proposed N6bn allocation to the university in the state’s over N1.8tn 2026 budget submitted to it by Governor Siminalayi Fubara.

The Assembly, during Monday’s plenary, said the summons was pursuant to Sections 128 and 129 of the Nigerian Constitution.

Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Martin Amaewhule, who presided over the plenary on Monday, warned those invited against failure to honour the summons.

The invited officials are expected to appear before an ad hoc committee of the House on September 16.

Amaewhule said the House wanted to establish whether funds previously allocated to the university were utilised for the purposes for which they were released.

In a statement issued by Martin Wachukwu, Special Assistant on Media to the Speaker,  Amaewhule said the summons became necessary after the House Ad hoc Committee investigating scholarship funds to PUMS presented its preliminary report.

He said the committee informed the House that letters of invitation had been sent to the Vice-Chancellor of PUMS, the Ministry of Education and all necessary parties to the inquiry.

The statement was titled, “Rivers Assembly Ad Hoc Committee Invites PAMO University VC, Ministry of Education to Explain Scholarship Funds, Adopts Committee Recommendation on Sea School Isaka Re-Establishment.”

The statement read, “The Rivers State House of Assembly Ad hoc Committee on the investigation of scholarship funds to PAMO University of Medical Sciences, on Monday, at the 44th Legislative Sitting of the House, gave its preliminary report, wherein it informed the House that invitation letters have been sent to the Vice-Chancellor of the University, the Ministry of Education and all necessary parties to the inquiry.”

Presenting the preliminary report, the Chairman of the Ad hoc Committee and Deputy Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Dumle Maol, said, “In line with the provisions of Sections 128 and 129 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, and other extant laws, the Committee has done the needful and it is awaiting the appearance of those invited.”

Speaker of the House, Amaewhule, while commenting on the preliminary report, urged the Ad hoc Committee to take the assignment seriously and ensure that fair hearing was given to all concerned in the course of its inquiry.

Amaewhule further said the House had the constitutional mandate to summon anybody to give evidence and produce documents that would aid the House in conducting its investigation in the interest of the people.

• TS Academy’s TS Connect Expands to Port Harcourt, Attracts Over 1,000 Attendees
• Kwara sets September 21 resumption date for 2026/2027 academic session
• 2027: Wike’s rainbow coalition will boost Tinubu’s chances, says ex-deputy speaker

The statement added, “Recall that the House, acting on the recommendation of its Appropriation Committee, expunged from the 2026 Appropriation Law the six billion Naira proposed as scholarship grant to PAMO University of Medical Sciences; and thereafter constituted an Ad hoc Committee to investigate from the inception of the University, how much has been disbursed to the University and how well the funds have been utilised for the purposes they were meant for.”

Recall that Amaewhule had on September 3, at Government House, when the budget was presented to the governor for his assent, explained that findings by a committee of the House showed that the management of the university, owned by a former Rivers State governor, Dr Peter Odili, had not been transparent with funds allocated to it by the state government over the years.

Addressing the governor, the Speaker stated, “Your Excellency, the Appropriation Bill you sent to us was passed but didn’t come back to you exactly the way you sent it.

“There is a little drop in the figure by about four billion, six hundred million naira. That particular figure came from the amount earlier proposed to PAMO University of Medical Sciences, which is about N6bn.

“The Committee, the House was not satisfied with the presentations made, in particular, as regards how the management of the university has not been very transparent.”

The following day, the management of the university reacted to Amaewhule’s comment, saying it was a dent on the image of the institution, and demanded an apology.

PAMO University, in a letter addressed to the Speaker by its lawyer, Ayodeji Adedipe, SAN, threatened to take legal action against the Speaker if he failed to retract what the school described as a false and defamatory statement made about the institution.

However, a few days later, the Assembly constituted a seven-member ad hoc committee to investigate funds disbursed by the state government to PAMO University of Medical Sciences, Port Harcourt, since the institution was established in 2017.

The committee, headed by the Deputy Speaker, Dumle Maol, was constituted by the Speaker, Martin Amaewhule, in line with Section 128 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

This was contained in a statement issued by the Chairman of the House Committee on Information, Enemi George.

The committee has now submitted its report, leading to the summons.

Meanwhile, also on Monday, the House resolved on the report of the House Committee on Public Petitions on a petition to repeal the Rivers State Sports Institute Law and enact a law to re-establish the Government Sea School, Isaka.

The House, having considered the consensus of stakeholders as reported by the committee, resolved to initiate a bill to re-establish the Government Sea School, Isaka, with a view to updating its operational mandate to meet contemporary maritime standards and blue economy demands.