Yusuf Gagdi, chairman of the committee, issued the arrest warrant on Thursday after Kolo failed twice to appear before the panel to answer questions bothering on allegations of jobs racketeering while he was a staff of the FCC.

“For Haruna Kolo, the position of this committee is that he would lose his freedom,” Gagdi said.

“We will issue a warrant of arrest in respect of Haruna Kolo and compel security agencies to present him before this committee at any given period if he is so arrested.

“So this committee would communicate officially to the various security agencies.”

Kolo had alleged that job seekers paid millions of naira into his personal accounts for him to take to Muheeba Dankaka, the agency’s chairman.

Kolo, who now works with the Assets Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON), said Dankaka appointed him as her chief protocol officer, while he was serving at FCC.

He told the panel that he was never involved in selling job offers, adding that he only acted on the instructions of Dankaka.

The chairman of the committee had on Wednesday questioned why Kolo failed to honour the invitation to appear before the panel.

“I also don’t know why Kolo is not coming back to appear before this committee. He seems to have absconded. I will sign a letter to AMCON to produce Kolo on Thursday,” Gagdi had said.

“It is better he listens to us unless he is acting a script and selling lies to us. He should come so we can interact with him. We owe everybody the duty of care.

“We need him by 10 a.m tomorrow, the clerk of the committee should call AMCON on the phone, [and] tell them to produce Kolo or do they know what Kolo is hiding?

Gagdi had said the committee would “exercise its constitutional powers” if Kolo failed to appear on Thursday, as he has been accused of working in three different institutions.

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Kolo said this in Abuja at the resumed investigative hearing of House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee probing job racketeering in Federal Ministries, Department and Agencies of Government.

The committee is also probing mismanagement of Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information (IPPIS) in MDAs.

The former member of staff FCC said he usually approached the Point of Sale Service (POS) agents to collect the money in cash to deliver to the chairman.

Kolo, who now worked with the Assets Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON), said Dankaka appointed him as her chief protocol, while serving in FCC.

He said that he saw the allegation against him in the media regarding job racketeering.

He said some of those who came to seek for job in the commission paid between one million to five million naira depending on the MDAs.

Kolo said he had never been involved in selling job, adding that he only acted on the instruction of Dankaka who was always receiving the money in cash.

According to him, she often gives me verbal instruction in respect of people paying for jobs and lodgment after the collection of the agreed amount.

“The money is always sent to my account which I subsequently cashed to remit in cash,” he said.

Kolo said his redeployment to AMCON was with the knowledge of the chairman of the commission.

”My going to AMCON was her personal favour to me and others that left FCC at the time,” he said.

He, however, accused the chairman of going after him, when her sister was rejected at AMCON due to age factor.

Kolo said the sister in question was already 51 years at the time she was given the job at AMCON.

He said that he had been receiving several call threatening his life, while seeking protection from the committee, adding that anything that happens to me, the FCC chairman should be held responsible.

Kolo also said contrary to the chairman’s claimed that FCC had not carried out recruitment exercise since her assumption of office was not true.

He added that as a desk officer of IPPIS in FCC, the commission carried out recruitment exercise because “I am the desk officer of IPPIS for FCC and over 300 employment letters were issued but those captured by FCC were few.”

In a swift reaction to Kolo’s allegations, Dankaka said she never collected any money from Kolo as alleged, adding that it was a conspiracy between him and the other commissioners to tarnish her image.

Disturbed by the barraged of allegations, Dankaka immediately brought out a copy of Holy Qur’an, swearing ever to have collected any money from Kolo as a proceeds of job racketeering.

According to her, I have never asked him to collect money from job seekers for me.

Responding to the issues, the Chairman of the committee told Kolo, Rep Yusuf Gagdi, that the committee was in possession of an evidence that Kolo had N38.5 million in his account, which was withdrew from POS.

He said a total of N75 million was in Kolo’s account in Access Bank, UBA and Eco bank as a proceed of job racketeering

”Kolo was serving as a front for collecting money for job recruitments in the commission as against the service, financial regulation and the extant law.

”The record I have about your account you don’t even have, the record of your service I have. We are not giving any judgment in FCC, we are still investigating.

”This committee will have to be judicial in nature. We knew why we asked Kolo to give us evidence. We must come out straight; we aren’t even talking about racketeering in other MDAs.

“Kolo you are not supposed to leave here without being arrested. As a civil servant, you are not supposed to have such huge amount in your account,” the committee chairman said.

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Akabueze spoke on Monday during an investigative hearing session with the house of representatives ad hoc committee.

The committee sought to investigate the mismanagement of personnel recruitment, employment racketeering and gross mismanagement of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).

The director-general also said the personnel cost of the federal government was over N5 trillion.

“As of 2016 when I became director-general of the budget office, the office had 500 people and authorised establishment of 520 and we determined that we didn’t need 500 people,” he said.

“So, over the last seven years, we have come down from 500 to now 318. Not only have we not redrawn, we have significantly reduced our numbers and managed the personnel cost of the government, which as of 2015, was about N1 trillion.

“Today, it is over N5 trillion and as much as we desire to depopulate the growing number of unemployed people in the country, the reality is that the government is not really a direct job creator.

“The role of government is to create an enabling environment for the private sector to create jobs. The total number of people in the employment of the federal government nationwide, including all of the security services, the military and all of that, is under 1.5 million people.

“There are people who still argue that the government is overstaffed. I don’t agree in aggregate because my view is that we are overstaffed in some areas and significantly short-staffed in other areas like in our policing and other agencies.”

Speaking also at the investigative hearing, Folashade Yemi-Esan, head of civil service of the federation, debunked the allegations that her office receives a 10 percent bribe whenever waivers are given to agencies.

Yemi-Esan accused some agencies of violating waivers given to them on job recruitment.

“We render service to MDAs and we do not request for any kind of percentage, whether 10 percent or one percent, we do not,” she said.

“In fact, the first time I heard that rumour I called the director and permanent secretary in charge of waivers and told them that I must not hear that kind of thing anymore. If they were doing it before, I really don’t think that would have happened.”

‘SIGNATURE FORGERY’

On her part, Muheeba Dankaka, chairman, Federal Character Commission (FCC), said some staff of the commission forged her signature to give fake letters of employment to unsuspecting Nigerians.

Dankaka said she was accused by some comissioners of the FCC of job racketeering, involving the recruitment of some persons in a manner that was not in tandem with extant laws.

According to Dankaka, some persons in the commission “forged her signature to give fake letters of employment”.

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The commissioners made the allegations on Wednesday when they appeared before the house of representatives ad hoc committee investigating ministries, departments, agencies (MDAs), parastatals, and tertiary institutions on personal recruitment, employment racketeering, and the mismanagement of the integrated payroll and personnel information system (IPPIS).

Dankaka was summoned to appear before the committee after some commissioners told the lawmakers that she was feigning to be ill to avoid honouring the legislators’ invitation.

At the investigative hearing on Wednesday, federal commissioners who were in attendance accused Dankaka of running the commission aground in gross violation of the FCC enabling act.

Nwokocha Onyekachi, the commissioner representing Rivers, told the committee that the commission is “dysfunctional”.

Asked by Yusuf Gagdi, chairperson of the committee, to be mindful of his language, Onyekachi maintained that the majority of the commissioners are excluded from the commission’s day-to-day operations.

Onyekachi said Dankaka runs the commission like a “sole administrator” and makes decisions independently without compliance with the provisions of the FCC act which require resolutions to be passed in a plenary involving all the commissioners.

“We do not have a functional commission. No state has the opportunity to see how their states fare which is the objective of constituting a full commission with representatives from all the states of the federation,” he said.

“Everything in the commission is run under the table and with serious opaqueness. No transparency.”

Onyekachi said all efforts to make Dankaka “do the right thing” have yielded no result.

Also speaking, Abdulrazak Adeoye, federal commissioner from Osun, alleged that the FCC chairperson engages in selling job opportunities to individuals and unlawfully halted a legally conducted recruitment when she took over.

“She surreptitiously removed the names of Nigerians from the payroll of FCC and replaced them without the knowledge of most commissioners,” Adeoye claimed.

Adeoye said he and other commissioners campaigning against the alleged illegality in the FCC are known as an “integrity group” and won’t rest till the right thing is done.

“We regard ourselves as an integrity group. We are Nigerians who stand clearly against the illegality of the things that will not help the country as a whole,” he said.

According to Adeoye, several petitions have been written to the Department of State Service (DSS) and the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against the FCC chairperson but “nothing has come out of the investigation”.

“We wrote a petition in our capacity as commissioners to DSS requesting for a covert investigation into this mess that we are not happy with”, he said, adding that the probe has been “footdragging”.

“There have been several investigations, several allegations against her, and she prevents most of these allegations from being looked into. She is above the law,” Adeoye said.

The commissioners presented documents to the committees to support their claims.

‘CORRUPTION FIGHTING BACK’

While responding, the FCC chairperson said her stance against corruption was the reason the commissioners levied all the allegations against her.

“I now believe the adage that says when you fight corruption, corruption would fight back,” she said.

However, Dankaka did not respond to the specific claims made against her, but instead, told the committee that she was rich before her appointment as the FCC chairperson.

She said the corruption allegations against her were false, noting that the lawmakers have continuously urged her to refrain from swearing as she was testifying under oath.

“I did not come to this place (FCC) to make money but to serve my father’s land,” she said.

“I swear with Almighty God, apart from the oath, I can take an oath with the Quran. Before I came here, I had made my name. I had made my money.

“Before I got to this place (FCC) they were selling slots. The place was like a marketplace. You can find out from people that live in Abuja if I am lying.“

THE RULING 

In his ruling, Gagdi said the committee won’t “compromise” the investigation, noting that any official in government agencies, including the anti-corruption bodies found “wanting of employment racketeering” will be made to face the wrath of the law.

“The committee will deep-rootedly investigate. We shall do justice where justice is supposed to be needed,” Gadji said, adding that the lawmakers have “taken cognizance” of the submissions made by the commissioners.

Gagdi asked the FCC chairperson to give a written reply to the accusations by the commissioners against her.

Dankaka is also expected to provide the committee with various documents, including the nominal roll and employment waivers, to the committee on Friday.

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The Executive Chairman of the Commission, Dr. Muheeba Farida Dankaka, gave the commendation in Abuja during a courtesy visit by the management of NNPC led by the Group managing Director, Mallam Mele Kyari.

A press release by the Corporation’s spokesman, Dr. Kennie Obateru, stated that the FCC boss also congratulated NNPC on the recent flag-off of the Ajaokuta-Kano-Kaduna (AKK) gas pipeline project.

Dr. Dankaka, who informed that her Commission’s mandate extends to equitable distribution of social and infrastructural amenities, said the AKK project was one that could boost the nation’s economy and wellbeing of Nigerians.

The FCC boss also disclosed that the recent recruitment by NNPC was transparent and ensured equal opportunity for all Nigerians, adding that the Corporation fully complied with FCC guidelines in the exercise.

In his remarks, the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, stated that the national oil company, as a responsible corporate entity, has always provided a level playing field for all thereby granting equal employment opportunity to Nigerians from all classes and backgrounds.

“On the issues around inclusion and physically challenged, as a matter of fact, today in our employment we have people in wheel chairs, the blind and other physically challenged. We are one of the institutions of government with the highest number of women in management,” the GMD stated.

Kyari said that contrary to false claims in some quarters, each geopolitical zone of the country is represented at the top management of NNPC, stressing that there is fair play in the Corporation’s appointments.

He said NNPC would continue to work towards achieving the government’s 35% affirmative action of women in public service.

He said NNPC would continue to comply with the rules and regulations of the Commission on recruitment.

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The Minister issued the challenge in Abuja on Friday when he received some officials of the Commission, led by its Secretary, Mallam Mahmoud Bello Tukur, on a courtesy visit to his office.

“Nigerians need to know and appreciate what you are doing, and I think we need more of this interaction. At our level at the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, we will very readily partner with you in the area of enlightenment campaigns because it is going to unite the country better. Once the people have a sense of belonging, then it’s the recipe for unity,” he said.

Alhaji Mohammed said it’s important for the Commission to change the perception and the mindset of people about the Commission, adding: ”To do so, you must invest in advocacy, interactions and visits like this.”

He said it is always convenient for people to look at a few appointments and make a general statement of marginalization, without taking a holistic view of federal appointments.

The Minister noted, however, that adequate and equitable representation in federal institutions will give a sense of belonging to every Nigerian and equally strengthen the bond of unity in the country.

“It is gladdening to note here that the objective and the mandate of the Commission go beyond just ensuring that there is a balance, equity and fairness in the federal ministries and parastatals, but that you are also very duly concerned about the spread of infrastructure. I think the two mandates are very important and germane to the unity, stability and peace of this country,” he stated.

In his remarks, Mallam Tukur said the Commission is currently engaged in promoting the aspect of its second mandate, which extends beyond placement in federal institutions to ensuring equitable distribution of infrastructure.

“The second mandate of the Commission also extends to the aspect of distribution of socio economic amenities and infrastructure in the country, and this is one key area that most people have not focused on and we want to focus more on that in the Federal Character Commission now,” he said.

The Commission’s Secretary decried how development is only centred in certain corridors and the urban areas, stressing the need for amenities and infrastructure to be broadly spread to extend to the rural areas in order to encourage private sector investment, particularly in areas like agriculture.

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