The six Area Council chairmen of the Federal Capital Territory have again failed to appear before the House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee to respond to questions over alleged financial infractions involving about ₦100 billion.

The chairmen had requested September 22, 2026, as the date for their appearance before the committee but failed to attend or send representatives.

Following their absence, the committee issued a seven-day final summons to the Directors of Personnel Management and Finance, as well as the Heads of Audit of the six councils.

They are expected to appear before the committee on October 14 or face sanctions in accordance with relevant service rules.

The affected councils are Abaji, Abuja Municipal Area Council, Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kuje and Kwali.

The audit queries are contained in the Annual Audit Report of the Auditor-General for the Six FCT Area Councils for the year ended December 31, 2021.

The report identified outstanding liabilities of about ₦7.65 billion arising from unremitted pension deductions, Pay As You Earn, Value Added Tax and withholding tax, as well as unpaid obligations to contractors.

Abuja Municipal Area Council recorded the highest outstanding liability at ₦2.19 billion, followed by Bwari with ₦1.49 billion and Kwali with ₦1.46 billion. Gwagwalada accounted for ₦1.01 billion, Kuje ₦892.2 million and Abaji ₦593.8 million.

The Auditor-General also faulted the councils for failing to properly maintain and update their fixed asset registers.

Gwagwalada Area Council was specifically cited over non-current assets valued at ₦336 million that were allegedly not properly recorded or updated, raising concerns over possible loss of assets without proper tracking.

The audit report also raised questions over ₦24.87 billion spent by the six councils on personnel, overheads and capital projects in 2021.

The expenditure breakdown showed that AMAC spent ₦5.03 billion, Gwagwalada ₦4.66 billion, Kuje ₦3.85 billion, Kwali ₦3.84 billion, Bwari ₦3.74 billion and Abaji ₦3.71 billion.

Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, Bamidele Salam, said the councils had repeatedly failed to honour invitations or provide documents needed to address the audit queries.

He said the committee had therefore decided to summon the relevant finance and audit officials of the councils, giving them until October 14 to appear.

The committee also raised concerns over findings from the 2022 and part of the 2023 audit reports, including alleged understatement of internally generated revenue, unauthorised disposal of assets, non-disclosure of statutory revenue and failure to remit withholding taxes.

The councils were further faulted for failing to audit and submit their financial accounts for 2023, 2024 and 2025 as required by law.

The committee said public funds must be managed transparently and prudently, warning that officials found culpable would be held accountable in accordance with the law.