N29bn scholarship: Assembly orders VC’s arrest

The Rivers State House of Assembly has ordered the arrest of the Vice Chancellor of the PAMO University of Medical Science, Port Harcourt, over scholarship funds disbursed to the institution by the state government, running into several billions of naira.

The Assembly said the arrest order became necessary due to the failure of the institution’s VC to honour the invitation of the Ad Hoc House Committee investigating the disbursement of funds to the university by the state government since 2017.

Also, the Assembly urged the Rivers State Government to set up a committee to recover all unaccounted funds in PAMO University’s possession and deposit them in the state’s Consolidated Revenue Account.

Recall that the House had last week extended the countdown for the VC to appear before the committee headed by the House Deputy Speaker, Mr Dumle Maol, on Thursday, September 24.

The Assembly’s order was taken during plenary session on Friday presided over by the Speaker, Mr Martin Amaewhule.

A statement issued by the Special Assistant on Media to the Speaker, Martins Wachukwu, on Friday, indicated that the House deliberated on the report of the Ad Hoc Committee probing the scholarship funds disbursed to the university.

The statement partly read, “The House, among other recommendations, also urged the state government to set up a committee to recover all unaccounted funds in possession of PAMO University and deposit them in the Consolidated Revenue Account of the state. The House resolution came amidst the refusal of the PAMO University VC to appear before the Ad hoc committee after several invitations, to explain how money given to the university under the scholarship scheme was expended.

The Ad hoc Committee Report chronicled how the university received over 29 billion Naira from the State government with no corresponding student enrolment, giving credence to the reason behind the Vice Chancellor’s refusal to honour the invitations.

“Rt. Hon Amaewhule frowned upon the situation where documents presented by the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Education, and the Office of the Accountant-General were at variance, adding that by simple deduction, out of the over N29bn released by the state government to PAMO University, it merely utilised only N5bn. The Speaker harped on the determination of the Assembly under his leadership to do the right thing irrespective of whose ox is gored.”

Amaewhule, according to the statement, emphasised that “no individual can be bigger than the House as an institution empowered by the Constitution.

Our correspondent recalls that the House of Assembly had yanked off the sum of N6bn allocated to PAMO University of Medical Sciences in the state 2026 budget of N1.84tn presented to it by Governor Siminalayi Fubara before presenting same to the governor on September 3rd for his assent, which he appended without question.

PAMO University is owned by former Rivers State governor, Dr Peter Odili, who doubles as the Pro-Chancellor.