The House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee, PAC, has threatened to issue arrest warrants against the Rector of the Federal Polytechnic, Ede, Osun State, Engr. Dr Sani Man Yahaya, and the institution’s Bursar, Aishat Shade Adebayo, over unresolved audit queries and alleged financial irregularities.
The committee said the two officials must appear before it on Monday, 19 October 2026, to respond to questions concerning procurement irregularities, expenditure discrepancies and other financial management issues affecting the institution.
The Chairman of the committee, Bamidele Salam, disclosed this on Friday while announcing the adoption of a technical committee’s report on submissions made by six tertiary institutions in response to audit queries raised by the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation.
Salam said the decision followed an examination of outstanding issues arising from the polytechnic’s 2021 audit report, findings from the committee’s South-West oversight exercise and petitions received against the institution’s management.
The committee expressed displeasure over what it described as the repeated failure of the Rector and Bursar to honour its invitations, warning that their continued absence could compel lawmakers to invoke the powers of the House of Representatives to enforce their attendance.
It warned that “unless the Rector, Bursar and other concerned officials appear before it on Monday, October 19, 2026, it will invoke the relevant powers of the House of Representatives to arrest them and compel their attendance”.
The PAC said the officials were expected to provide explanations for the outstanding audit queries, submit relevant financial and procurement records, and respond to allegations identified during its investigations.
The committee stressed that “the officials must appear to respond to the outstanding audit queries, explain the alleged financial irregularities and provide the documents required for its ongoing investigations”.
According to the committee, “the institution had three outstanding queries in its 2021 audit report. These concerned an unretired cash advance, the engagement of an external solicitor without approval from the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, and foreign trips allegedly undertaken without evidence of approval from the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation”.
The lawmakers also raised concerns over the late submission of the polytechnic’s audited accounts for the 2022, 2023 and 2024 financial years, saying the delay was contrary to applicable financial regulations and statutory requirements.
The committee questioned discrepancies between the institution’s approved overhead budget and actual expenditure for 2023.
It said the polytechnic was allocated ₦110.2 million for overhead costs, while its audited accounts showed expenditure of ₦882.5 million, resulting in excess spending of approximately ₦772 million.
It also identified a budgetary variance in personnel expenditure for the same year.
According to the records examined, “the approved personnel budget stood at ₦2.862 billion, while actual expenditure was ₦2.593 billion, leaving a difference of approximately ₦268.5 million. The figures raised questions about the due diligence applied in preparing the institution’s budget estimates”.
Another issue concerned the alleged failure to provide evidence of mandatory remittances of one per cent of personnel emoluments to the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) between 2023 and 2025.
The committee also criticised the institution for failing to provide procurement documents relating to capital expenditure and Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) projects despite repeated requests.
Lawmakers described the non-production of the records as a denial of the committee’s access to relevant procurement documents required for effective legislative oversight and accountability.
During an inspection of an ongoing lecture theatre project at the polytechnic’s permanent site, the committee reported concerns about the quality of construction.
It said the concrete flooring leading to the entrance was poorly executed and could reportedly be broken using hands and feet, raising questions about whether the work delivered matched the payments made to contractors.
Following the inspection, the institution was directed to submit the project’s Bill of Quantities, procurement records and the contractor’s details for further examination.
However, the committee said the requested documents were not made available. It disclosed that petitions alleging financial irregularities against the institution’s management would be examined alongside the relevant audit findings.
The PAC raised concerns over ₦20.5 million reportedly yet to be credited to the Retirement Savings Accounts of some employees through Stanbic IBTC Pension and Access Pension.
The committee attributed the delay to the alleged failure to provide accurate employee information, including Retirement Savings Account Personal Identification Numbers (RSA PINs), noting that the affected workers could lose interest and investment returns while the funds remained uncredited.
Salam reiterated the committee’s commitment to ensuring transparency, accountability and compliance with financial regulations in the management of public funds.
He stressed that “public institutions must be prepared to account for their expenditure, provide requested records and respond to audit queries raised by the appropriate authorities”.
The committee warned that the House’s relevant powers could be invoked to compel the attendance of the Rector, Bursar and other concerned officials if they failed to appear on Monday, 19 October 2026.
Reps threaten arrest warrants against Federal Polytechnic officials over audit queries