PAMO University of Medical Sciences in Rivers State has demanded the immediate retraction and apology from the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Martin Amaewhule, over alleged defamatory comments concerning the institution’s management of scholarship funds.
The demand was contained in a letter dated Thursday, September 3, 2026, signed by the university’s solicitor, Ayodeji Adedipe, SAN.
The university took exception to comments allegedly made by Amaewhule while presenting the 2026 Rivers State Appropriation Act to Governor Siminalayi Fubara for assent at the Executive Council Chambers of the Government House, Port Harcourt, last Thursday.
According to the letter, the Speaker stated that the Assembly’s committee had considered a proposal of N6 billion for PAMO University in the 2026 budget but found that the institution had not been transparent in its management of funds allocated to it over the years.
The university’s legal counsel quoted Amaewhule as saying that the state could not ascertain what had happened to taxpayers’ money allocated to the institution.
The Speaker was also alleged to have said that the university was invited by the House committee but failed to appear, and that it did not present any records or reports to the Assembly.
However, PAMO University described the allegations as “totally false and unfounded”, insisting that it had never been invited by the Rivers State House of Assembly or any other body to account for funds provided by the state government under the scholarship scheme for Rivers students.
The institution further maintained that it had, since the commencement of the scholarship programme, applied the funds strictly and judiciously for the purpose for which they were provided.
The university said the comments had left its management “thoroughly embarrassed, maligned and defamed”, particularly the allegation that it had not been transparent in managing the scholarship funds.
Its lawyers argued that the statements, as understood by an average person, portrayed the University as an irresponsible and fraudulent institution that had mismanaged or diverted funds provided by the Rivers State Government for the education of students.
Consequently, the university demanded the immediate retraction of the alleged defamatory statements and an apology from the Speaker.
The institution gave Amaewhule 24 hours from notification of the letter to comply with the demands.
The letter warned that failure or refusal to meet the demands within the stipulated period would lead to the commencement of legal proceedings against the Speaker before a court of competent jurisdiction, without further reference to him.