Rivers’ Assemby moves against PAMO VC over N29bn scholarship funds, orders arrest, demands recovery 

The N29 billion question has now reached a dramatic new stage. The Rivers State House of Assembly has resolved to issue a warrant of arrest of Professor Smith Jaja, the Vice Chancellor of PAMO University of Medical Sciences, Port Harcourt, over his repeated failure to appear before the Assembly’s Adhoc Committee investigating the expenditure of funds released to the university under the Rivers State Government’s medical scholarship programme for Rivers indigenes.

PAMO University’s legal representation has challenged the Assembly’s authority to summon the Vice-Chancellor personally, maintaining that it is a private institution receiving payments for specific student scholarships rather than direct budgetary allocations. A fundamental rights case concerning the dispute has been brought before the Rivers State High Court.

But the Assembly took the decision to have Prof. Jaja arrested on Friday during its 53rd Legislative Sitting, after considering the report of the Adhoc Committee chaired by Rt. Hon. Dumle Maol.

According to the Committee’s report presented to the House, PAMO University received more than ₦29 billion from the Rivers State Government under the scholarship arrangement, but the Committee said the funds could not be adequately reconciled with corresponding student enrolment and expenditure records.

The controversy dates back to the State Government’s initiative to provide medical education opportunities for Rivers State indigenes, with PAMO University of Medical Sciences becoming a major beneficiary of the scholarship arrangement. The programme was intended to help produce more doctors and other medical professionals from the state by sponsoring eligible Rivers students through medical training.

But what began as a government investment in the future of Rivers youths has now evolved into a major financial accountability investigation.

The Assembly said the PAMO Vice Chancellor was invited several times to appear before the Adhoc Committee and explain how the scholarship funds were expended, but allegedly failed to honour the invitations. That refusal became a central issue in the Committee’s proceedings and ultimately contributed to the House’s decision to order a warrant of arrest.

Speaker Rt. Hon. Martin Chike Amaewhule raised further concerns over discrepancies among documents presented by the Rivers State Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Education and the Office of the Accountant-General.

According to the Speaker, the documents suggested that although more than ₦29 billion had been released by the State Government to PAMO University, only about ₦5 billion could be accounted for as having been utilised.

The Assembly has consequently urged the Rivers State Government to establish a funds recovery committee to trace and recover all unaccounted funds allegedly in the possession of PAMO University and return the recovered money to the Consolidated Revenue Account of Rivers State.

Amaewhule acknowledged that the government’s original intention in entering the scholarship arrangement was positive, particularly its objective of expanding access to medical education for Rivers indigenes. However, he said the implementation had raised serious questions requiring institutional scrutiny.

He also declared that the Assembly under his leadership would continue to pursue what it considers its constitutional responsibilities irrespective of whose interests are affected, stressing that no individual is bigger than the institution of the Rivers State House of Assembly.

The latest resolution now puts the PAMO scholarship controversy at a critical point.

At the heart of the matter is a simple but potentially explosive question: How was the money released by Rivers State for the medical education of its indigenes actually spent?

The Assembly’s findings and allegations are now set to face the next stages of enforcement, recovery and potentially further legal proceedings.

The unfolding controversy could have major implications for the future administration of publicly funded medical scholarships in Rivers State, and for accountability in the management of billions of naira in public funds.