Chairman of the Federal Character Commission, FCC, Dr Muheeba Dankaka, said the Commission was “a marketplace for selling job slots” before her appointment to the office by immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari on April 28, 2020.
Dankaka said that her attempts to check the alleged corruption and obvious drift of the Commission from its original mandate had unfortunately seen some commissioners gang up against her within the system.
Speaking during an appearance before the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating alleged job racketeering and abuse of Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) by Ministries Department and Agencies (MDAs), the FCC boss said there was no denying the fact that government officials had become notorious for selling job slots to Nigerians without batting eyelids.
She told the Committee that “Before I came to this place, they were selling slots. The place was like a market, and you can find out from people who live in Abuja if I am lying.
“When I came in, I met all the commissioners, and I told them that they gave us the Qur’an [to swear on]. I don’t want anything that would destroy me or my family.”
Dankaka was not thr only one that washed the FCC’s dirty linens in public.
Some commissioners, under the auspices of the ‘Integrity Group’ also fired back, accusing her of highhandedness, job racketeering, abuse of extant laws, and the FCC establishment Act since arriving to head the Commission.
The unfolding drama came against the backdrop of the House Committee’s directives that the FCC’s Chair and all the 36 commissioners must appear before it to answer questions on their current duty tour and activities in the Agency.
Addressing the House Committee on their counter-allegations, the Commissioner representing Osun State in the commission, Abdulrazak Adewuyi, and Rivers State counterpart, Okwacha Augustine claimed that Dr Dankaka had been running the Commission’s affairs in violation of Section 14(3) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), Section 2 of the FCC Act and other extant laws.
However, Dankaka denied the allegations and accused the commissioners from the ‘Integrity Group’ of mischief and blackmail, insisting that those making the allegations had been antagonistic following her refusal to compromise and accede to their whims and caprices.
In a viral video of the panel session, Dankaka said her move to stop the sale of job slots at the commission on her assumption of office did not go down well with some of the commissioners.
She said, “Before I came here, I have made my name. I have made my money. Let me tell you a small story. Some of them (commissioners) have reasons why they are attacking me. When I first came in, most of them were my close people. All of them were always in my office, but what they wanted me to do I told them I cannot do it.
“I am a very quiet person and I keep certain secrets as executive chairman. I have to swallow certain things and leave everything in the hands of God. Before I came to this place, they were selling (job) slots. The place was like a market. And you can find out from the people living in Abuja if I am lying. When I came in, I met all the commissioners and told them I don’t want anything that will destroy me and my family. All of them can bear me witness.”
She further alleged that a commissioner bought a landed property and promised the seller to pay for it with job slots, but she deliberately thwarted the evil plan which drew the ire of the said Commissioner and his comrades in the fraudulent business.
Having listened to the feuding parties, the House Committee Chairman, Yusuf Adamu Gagdi, directed the chair to submit her responses to the allegations in writing as well as all other documents required for the investigation by Friday, July 28, 2023.
The Committee also directed that the FCC Chair should appear with all the 36 commissioners on Monday, July 31, 2023 for the resumption of investigative hearing.
Conclaveng.com
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