Rivers Assembly Orders Arrest Of PAMO University VC

The Rivers State House of Assembly has ordered the arrest of the Vice Chancellor of PAMO University of Medical Sciences, Professor Smith I. Jaja, over his repeated failure to appear before an ad hoc committee of the House.

Naija News reports that the committee is investigating the management and disbursement of scholarship funds released to PAMO University by the Rivers State Government.

The arrest warrant was issued on Friday during the 53rd legislative sitting of the Assembly.

The resolution was disclosed by Martins Wachukwu, Special Assistant on Media to the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, in a statement issued on Friday.

The ad hoc committee, chaired by the Deputy Leader of the House, Dumle Maol, had invited the university’s Vice Chancellor several times to provide information on how funds released under the state scholarship arrangement were spent.

During the investigation, the Assembly was informed that PAMO University had received more than ₦29 billion from the Rivers State Government through the scholarship scheme.

The lawmakers also raised concerns over a difference between the amount released to the university and the number of students reportedly enrolled under the programme.

Following its review of the available records, the Assembly directed the Rivers State Government to establish a funds recovery committee.

The committee is expected to determine the amount of money that remains unaccounted for and recover any funds found to be outstanding from PAMO University.

Any recovered money is to be returned to the state’s Consolidated Revenue Account.

The Speaker, Martin Chike Amaewhule, also raised concerns about the way the scholarship agreement was implemented.

He said the Assembly found differences in the financial records presented by the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Education and the Office of the Accountant-General of the State.

According to the Assembly’s assessment, only about ₦5 billion out of the more than ₦29 billion released to PAMO University could be traced to utilisation based on the records before the lawmakers.