Nigeria’s House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the National Assembly in Africa’s most populous country, has summoned the chairmen and finance directors of all six Area Councils in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the region that includes Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, after an audit report flagged financial breaches valued at more than ₦100 billion.
The summons followed the submission of the Auditor-General’s report on the FCT Area Councils to the House Committee on Public Accounts, the parliamentary panel that reviews how public funds are spent. The report indicted Abaji, Abuja Municipal, Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kuje and Kwali Area Councils, which serve as the local government administrations responsible for grassroots services across the FCT.
The audit report, which covered the year ending Friday, 31 December 2021, highlighted unremitted statutory deductions, weak asset management, and spending that was either poorly documented or not properly accounted for.
Okay News reports that the six councils had outstanding liabilities totalling ₦7.65 billion as of Friday, 31 December 2021. The report said these liabilities included unremitted pension deductions, Pay-As-You-Earn [PAYE] tax, Value Added Tax [VAT], withholding taxes, unpaid capital project obligations, and other statutory payments due to bodies including the Nigeria Revenue Service, a federal revenue-collecting authority, the Federal Capital Territory Inland Revenue Service, the territory’s tax agency, Pension Fund Administrators, organisations that manage retirement savings, and contractors.
A breakdown in the report showed that Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) had the highest outstanding liability at ₦2.19 billion. Bwari Area Council followed with ₦1.49 billion, while Kwali Area Council recorded ₦1.46 billion. Gwagwalada Area Council had ₦1.01 billion, Kuje Area Council recorded ₦892.2 million, and Abaji Area Council had ₦593.8 million.
The Auditor-General also faulted the councils for failing to properly maintain Fixed Asset Registers, which are official records used to track government-owned property and equipment. In Gwagwalada Area Council, the report said non-current assets valued at ₦336 million were not adequately recorded or updated, warning that the lapse “creates room for asset losses without trace.”
The report added that similar weaknesses were observed across the other area councils.
The audit further showed that the six councils spent a combined ₦24.87 billion in 2021 on personnel costs, overheads and capital projects. This represented an 89 per cent rise of ₦11.7 billion compared with 2020 expenditure.
However, the report queried the use of 37 per cent of funds said to have been allocated to capital projects, noting that the councils did not provide satisfactory explanations on how the money was used.
A spending breakdown in the audit stated that AMAC spent ₦5.03 billion in 2021, while Gwagwalada Area Council spent ₦4.66 billion. Kuje Area Council recorded ₦3.85 billion, Kwali Area Council spent ₦3.84 billion, Bwari Area Council spent ₦3.74 billion and Abaji Area Council spent ₦3.71 billion.
The report also referenced audit findings for 2022 and part of 2023, which it said revealed additional problems, including understatement of actual Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), meaning money raised locally by councils, unauthorised disposal of assets, non-disclosure of statutory revenues and failure to remit withholding taxes to the appropriate authorities.
Reacting, Bamidele Salam, a Nigerian lawmaker who chairs the House Committee on Public Accounts, confirmed that the committee had formally received the audit report.
“The Committee has received the Auditor-General’s report indicting the six FCT Area Councils over serious financial infractions running into billions of naira,” Salam said.
He disclosed that the committee had sent three separate letters to the chairmen of the affected area councils and their finance directors, summoning them to appear and respond to the audit queries.
“We have written formally to the chairmen and their finance directors to appear before this Committee and give explanations on the issues raised in the audit report,” he stated.
Salam warned that the officials had been given a final opportunity to appear before the committee on Wednesday, 11 February 2026.
“Let me make it clear that this invitation is the final one. Failure to honour it will leave the House with no option but to invoke its constitutional powers to compel their appearance, including ordering their arrest,” he warned.
The lawmaker also said the area councils were indicted for failing to audit and submit their financial statements for 2023, 2024 and 2025, contrary to statutory requirements.
“It is unacceptable that public institutions entrusted with public funds would fail to prepare and submit their accounts for several years. Public funds must be managed with transparency and prudence,” Salam stressed.
He added that any official found culpable of financial misconduct would be held accountable in line with the law.
