Job Racketeering: House C’ttee, scrutinizing FCC State Commissioners bank a/c
By Tom Okpe
The House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee probing employment racketeering in Federal Government agencies says it’s scrutinizing bank accounts of the 36 Commissioners of the Federal Character Commission, (FCC) in respect to selling slots for employment.
The Committee Chairman, Rep Yusuf Gagdi, made this revelation as the panel resumed investigative hearing on Tuesday.
Gagdi said the committee was studying bank accounts of the commissioner’s account of certain individuals that have been serving as fronts to sell jobs in federal agencies to members of the public.
He expressed displeasure that a former FCC staff who currently works with the Asset Management Company of Nigeria, Haruna Kolo, again failed to honour the Committee’s invitation.
Kolo had appeared before the Committee last week, when he alleged that he was collecting money on behalf of Chairman of the Commission, Muheeba Dankaka, to sell slots for employment.
Gagdi also said the probe as it concerns the FCC would subsequently be held behind closed doors so it does not detract from the objective of dealing with over 600 other agencies.
Also at the hearing were witnesses who alleged they were victims of job racketeering by the said Kolo.
One of them Badamasi Jalo said he met Kolo through one Yishau Gambo, driver to the FCC Commissioner of Taraba State.
He said, “I am from Taraba State and I met Haruna Kolo through Yishau Gambo. I paid to Gambo. When I was taken to Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System, (IPPIS) office that was how I got Kolo’s contact. We did our IPPIS on 14th October 2021.
“I started receiving my salary the next month November. Based on that confidence.
“Kolo asked me to look for additional people. He told me there would be another recruitment in another organization which is National Institute of Marine and Oceanography in Lagos, which he paid four people’s money into my account and I paid into these three accounts including Haruna Kolo in Ecobank, Bello Halima in Access Bank and also paid to the FCC through Gambo account.”
Jalo alleged that Kolo told him, he took the money to Chairman of the FCC.
Gagdi however, observed that Jalo, as a front, was invited because his statement of account in respect to recruitment racketeering and selling of slots.
He said there was evidence connecting him to Gambo, driver to the Taraba State Commissioner.
“There are traces of financial transactions that has to do with some candidates that got recruitment through the process of racketeering,” he stated.
Another witness, Musa Ibrahim from Nasarawa State, said he introduced some candidates to one Abdullahi, who scammed the unsuspecting victims.
According to him, he had no idea Abdullahi was a fraud, alleging that he, Abdullahi was working with the Nasarawa State Commissioner as well as the Chairman of the Commission.
“We have pictorial evidence of Abdullahi with the Commissioner and the Chairman. On several occasions they have been together. We have seen them and have a lot of pictures with his phone and account number, he can be linked directly with the Commissioner,” Ibrahim said.
The Ad hoc Committee Chairman wondered why it was so easy for Kolo to take people to IPPIS for capturing without authorisation.
He said the IPPIS must be invited to explain the anomaly.
“We have put in machinery to scrutinize all the 36 Commissioners since a lot of things and activities have happened in FCC. We are studying their accounts, individuals serving as fronts to selling slots.
“Anyone that has anything on the Federal Character Commission, we are going to consider it behind closed doors because we may not have time, otherwise, our investigation on other agencies would be affected.
“Since you have made this public, there is need to invite Abdullahi Ibrahim, who we have evidence of transfer to his bank and have pictures of his activities and the commissioners of the Federal Character.
“It is good to give them fair hearing while we write to banks regarding account statement of Abdullahi.
“We would equally invite him to come here and tell us what he knows about the various slots that we have complaint from, over nine persons about him,” saying, “Kolo would be forced to appear before the Committee.
“We are going to force Haruna Kolo to appear in whatever way and we are going to do that. He cannot come here and say whatever he wants to say and disappear. We asked for evidence from him, he did not give any evidence so we will force him here.”
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The panel also queried Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, (JAMB), Prof Ishaq Oloyede, for recruiting over 300 people without advertising.
But Prof Oloyede said they had to carry out the exercise with a waiver to bypass the advertisement due to exigencies of the time.
But Gagdi said waivers were now being abused thereby denying qualified Nigerians, fair opportunity at getting jobs.
