Rivers Assembly Orders Arrest of PAMO University VC Over N29bn Scholarship Funds

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

The Assembly issued the order after the Vice Chancellor failed to honour several invitations from an Ad Hoc Committee investigating the disbursement and utilisation of the funds since 2017.

The lawmakers also urged the Rivers State Government to establish a committee to recover all unaccounted funds in the university’s possession and return them to the state’s Consolidated Revenue Account.

The decision was reached during Friday’s plenary session presided over by the Speaker, Martin Amaewhule, following consideration of the report submitted by the Ad Hoc Committee chaired by the Deputy Speaker, Dumle Maol.

According to a statement issued by the Speaker’s Special Assistant on Media, Martins Wachukwu, the committee found that PAMO University had received more than N29 billion from the state government under the scholarship scheme, despite what it described as a lack of corresponding student enrolment.

The statement also said documents submitted by the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Education and the Office of the Accountant-General contained discrepancies.

The Speaker reportedly said that, based on the documents reviewed, the university appeared to have utilised only about N5 billion out of the more than N29 billion released to it.

Amaewhule stressed that no individual was above the authority of the House of Assembly as an institution empowered by the Constitution.

The Assembly had previously removed N6 billion allocated to PAMO University from the state’s 2026 budget of N1.84 trillion before the budget was presented to Governor Siminalayi Fubara for assent on September 3.

PAMO University of Medical Sciences is owned by former Rivers State Governor, Dr Peter Odili, who also serves as its Pro-Chancellor.

The arrest order and allegations concerning the funds arise from the Assembly’s ongoing investigation. The claims have not, by themselves, established criminal liability against the university or its officials.