The Rivers State House of Assembly has ordered the immediate arrest of the Vice-Chancellor of PAMO University of Medical Sciences after the head of the institution failed to appear before a legislative probe panel.
The order stems from an ongoing investigation into several billion naira in state scholarship funds disbursed to the university, which is owned by former Rivers State Governor Dr Peter Odili.
The decision was reached during Friday’s plenary session, presided over by the Speaker, Martin Amaewhule, following the presentation of a report by an Ad Hoc House Committee investigating the allocations. Last week, the committee, chaired by Deputy Speaker Dumle Maol, had extended the deadline for the Vice-Chancellor to appear on Thursday, September 24, 2026. However, the academic head’s continued refusal to honour the invitations prompted lawmakers to resolve to issue a warrant of arrest in line with the panel’s recommendations.
Alongside the arrest order, the Assembly urged the Rivers State Government to set up a dedicated committee to recover all unaccounted funds currently held by PAMO University and deposit them directly into the state’s Consolidated Revenue Account. The legislative move follows a recent budget amendment in which the Assembly removed an allocation of six billion naira meant for the university from the ₦1.84 trillion 2026 state budget presented by Governor Siminalayi Fubara, which was subsequently signed into law on September 3.
While detailing the panel’s findings in a statement issued on Friday, the Special Assistant on Media to the Speaker, Martins Wachukwu, revealed that financial records provided by state ministries exposed major discrepancies in how the funds were handled. The statement noted: “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.”
Addressing the assembly floor, Speaker Amaewhule observed that while the state government originally entered the scholarship agreement with good intentions, its execution had been severely compromised. He pointed out that conflicting records submitted by the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Education, and the Office of the Accountant-General indicated that out of more than ₦29 billion released to PAMO University since 2017, the institution had only utilised approximately ₦5 billion.
Amaewhule stressed that the legislature would perform its duties without fear or favour, reminding lawmakers that no individual is bigger than the House as an institution empowered by the Constitution.