... LAWMAKERS THREATEN ARREST WARRANTS*
By Emmanuel Kanayo,
The crisis between the Rivers State House of Assembly and PAMO University of Medical Sciences deepened on Wednesday as the Vice-Chancellor of the university shunned the summons of the House Ad-hoc Committee investigating scholarship funds.
The Committee, led by Deputy Speaker, Hon. Dumle Maol, had summoned the VC, the State Accountant-General, Commissioner for Finance, Commissioner for Education, and the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, to appear on September 16 to explain funds disbursed to the institution by the State Government from 2017 to date.
However, at Wednesday's sitting in Port Harcourt, the Vice-Chancellor, the Commissioner for Finance and the Accountant-General failed to appear before the Committee.
Only the Commissioner for Education, Dr. Peter Nwagor, honoured the invitation.
Following their absence, the Committee threatened to issue warrants of arrest against the VC, the Accountant-General and the Commissioner for Finance for contempt of the legislature.
Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Dumle Maol, directed the affected officials to appear in person on Thursday, September 24, 2026, warning that failure to honour the fresh invitation would compel the Committee to invoke its full constitutional powers under Sections 128 and 129 of the 1999 Constitution, including arrest warrants.
The probe follows the Assembly's decision to expunge a proposed N6 billion allocation to PAMO University from the State's N1.8 trillion 2026 budget over alleged lack of transparency and failure to account for previous funds.
