PAMO UNIVERSITY VC FACES ARREST OVER N29BN RIVERS SCHOLARSHIP FUNDS

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By ‘Balogun Ibrahim

The Rivers State House of Assembly has ordered the arrest of the Vice-Chancellor of PAMO University of Medical Sciences, Port Harcourt, over the alleged mismanagement of scholarship funds amounting to several billion naira released to the institution by the state government.

The Assembly said the arrest warrant was issued after the Vice-Chancellor failed to appear before its Ad Hoc Committee investigating the disbursement and utilisation of scholarship funds allocated to the university since 2017.

The lawmakers also called on the Rivers State Government to establish a committee to recover all unaccounted funds allegedly held by PAMO University and return the money to the state’s Consolidated Revenue Account.

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The Assembly had previously extended the deadline for the Vice-Chancellor to appear before the committee, chaired by the Deputy Speaker, Dumle Maol, on Thursday, September 24, 2026.

The latest resolution was reached during Friday’s plenary session, presided over by the Speaker, Martin Amaewhule.

According to a statement issued by the Speaker’s Special Assistant on Media, Martins Wachukwu, the House considered the report of the Ad Hoc Committee investigating scholarship funds disbursed to PAMO University.

The committee reportedly found that the university had received more than N29 billion from the Rivers State Government under the scholarship scheme, despite what it described as a lack of corresponding student enrolment.

The committee’s report also alleged that the university had utilised only about N5 billion of the funds released to it.

Presenting the report, the committee chairman, Dumle Maol, recommended that the House issue a warrant of arrest for the Vice-Chancellor over his repeated failure to honour invitations to explain how the scholarship funds were spent.

Speaker Amaewhule said the scholarship scheme was introduced with good intentions by the government but expressed concern over what he described as shortcomings in its implementation.

He also noted discrepancies between documents submitted by the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Education and the Office of the Accountant-General regarding the funds released to the university.

Amaewhule said the Assembly remained committed to ensuring accountability and doing what was right, regardless of those affected by its decisions.

He further stressed that no individual was above the authority of the House as a constitutional institution.

The Rivers State House of Assembly had earlier 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.