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By Tracy Moses
A damning audit report submitted to the House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has indicted the six Area Councils in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) over financial infractions totaling more than ₦100 billion.
The councils—Abaji, Abuja Municipal (AMAC), Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kuje, and Kwali, are accused of unremitted statutory deductions, poor asset management, and unaccounted expenditures.
The scrutiny comes against a long-standing backdrop of fiscal mismanagement and weak accountability in local governments within Nigeria’s capital territory. Historically, councils have struggled with revenue collection, proper financial record maintenance, and timely remittance of statutory deductions such as pension contributions, Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) taxes, and Value Added Tax (VAT).
Over the years, various audit reports by the FCT Auditor-General and oversight bodies have repeatedly flagged lapses, including unauthorised asset disposals, underreporting of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), and unaccounted expenditures.
Despite prior warnings and recommendations, corrective measures have been inconsistently implemented.
The most recent audit covering the 2021 fiscal year highlights a surge in council expenditures on personnel, overheads, and capital projects without corresponding accountability, alongside missing financial submissions for 2023 through 2025. These findings prompted the House PAC to demand explanations and enforce financial discipline.
According to the audit, the six councils recorded outstanding liabilities totaling ₦7.65 billion as of December 31, 2021. These include unremitted pension deductions, PAYE taxes, VAT, withholding taxes, unpaid capital project obligations, and other statutory revenues due to the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), FCT Internal Revenue Service, Pension Fund Administrators, and contractors. Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) had the highest liability of ₦2.19 billion, followed by Bwari with ₦1.49 billion, Kwali with ₦1.46 billion, Gwagwalada with ₦1.01 billion, Kuje with ₦892.2 million, and Abaji with ₦593.8 million.
The Auditor-General also faulted the councils for failing to properly maintain and update their Fixed Asset Registers, a lapse which exposes public assets to loss and mismanagement. In Gwagwalada Area Council alone, non-current assets valued at ₦336 million were neither adequately documented nor updated, a weakness prevalent across all councils.
Further findings revealed that the six Area Councils incurred a total expenditure of ₦24.87 billion in 2021 on personnel costs, overheads, and capital projects.
This represented an 89 per cent increase (₦11.7 billion) over the 2020 expenditure, raising questions about financial oversight and accountability. 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.
Audit reports for 2022 and parts of 2023 further uncovered multiple infractions, including understatement of IGR, unauthorised disposal of assets, non-disclosure of statutory revenues, and failure to remit withholding taxes to appropriate authorities.
Reacting to the report, Chairman of the House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee, Rep. Bamidele Salam, confirmed that the audit had been formally received and was under consideration by the Committee.
He disclosed that three separate letters had been issued to the chairmen of the six councils and their respective Finance Directors, summoning them to appear before the Committee to respond to the audit queries. Rep. Salam warned that the officials had been given a final opportunity to appear on Wednesday, February 11, 2026, stressing that failure to honour the summons would compel the House to invoke its constitutional powers to order their arrest and ensure compliance.
He also revealed that the councils were indicted for failing to audit and submit their financial accounts for the years 2023, 2024, and 2025, in violation of statutory requirements.
“Public funds must be managed with transparency and prudence,” Salam said, warning that any official found culpable would be held accountable in accordance with the law.
The House PAC has made it clear: failure to comply with the summons will trigger constitutional powers to ensure accountability.