October 11, (THEWILL) – The House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has issued yet another summons to officials of the six Federal Capital Territory Area Councils over unresolved financial queries involving about N100 billion.
The councils—Abaji, Abuja Municipal Area Council, Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kuje and Kwali—have been given a final seven-day notice to appear before the committee on October 14 or face sanctions.
The present queries are not new. They originate substantially from the Auditor-General’s report for the financial year ended December 31, 2021. The report identified N7.65 billion in outstanding liabilities, including unremitted pension deductions, PAYE, VAT and withholding taxes, as well as unpaid obligations to contractors. The councils also spent N24.87 billion on personnel, overheads and capital projects in 2021, with the audit raising questions about the documentation and accountability for part of the expenditure.
More disturbing is that the concerns did not end with the 2021 accounts. The Public Accounts Committee says subsequent audits covering 2022 and part of 2023 raised fresh issues, including alleged understatement of internally generated revenue, unauthorised disposal of assets, non-disclosure of statutory revenue and failure to remit withholding taxes.
The councils have also reportedly failed to audit and submit their financial accounts for 2023, 2024 and 2025 as required. And this is where the matter transcends the six councils.
In February 2026, the same Public Accounts Committee summoned the council chairmen over the same broad body of alleged financial infractions and warned that constitutional powers could be invoked to compel their appearance. That episode did not produce the accountability Nigerians expected. By September, the chairmen were again invited; they failed to appear. Now, in October, the committee has issued another “final” summons.
If officials can repeatedly disregard the legislature without an immediate and proportionate consequence, the problem is no longer merely one of council administration. It becomes a test of the credibility of the accountability system itself.
The solution therefore lies in moving from query to resolution.
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First, the PAC should publish a clear status report on every major query: the amount involved, the responsible council or official, the explanation offered, the amount recovered and the outstanding action. Nigerians should be able to see what happened after every hearing.
Second, repeated non-compliance should trigger automatic consequences under existing law and service rules. A public official should not be able to turn parliamentary summonses into optional appointments.
Third, the Auditor-General’s reports should be followed by a mandatory enforcement mechanism involving the appropriate anti-corruption and prosecutorial agencies where evidence of criminality exists. Parliament should not be expected to investigate, prosecute and recover money itself.
Fourth, the councils must be compelled to produce audited accounts annually and within statutory deadlines. Failure to submit accounts should itself attract clearly defined sanctions.
Finally, the National Assembly must also examine its own oversight record. An accountability system is only as strong as its ability to close the loop. Raising a query is the beginning of oversight, not its conclusion.
The FCT Area Councils handle public resources that should translate into roads, sanitation, primary healthcare, education, and other services for citizens. Every naira that cannot be properly accounted for represents more than an accounting discrepancy; it potentially represents a service that was not delivered.
What is the value of an audit query if it can be raised year after year without a demonstrable consequence? The latest “final summons” must therefore be different from the previous ones—not because the wording is stronger, but because the consequences are real.
Otherwise, the danger is that Nigeria will continue to produce impressive audit reports, dramatic legislative hearings and stern warnings, while the same financial questions return year after year.
