- FCC chair denies swears by Qur’an
A former staff member of the Federal Character Commission (FCC), Haruna Kolo, yesterday admitted before the House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating job racketeering that he served as a front for collecting money from job seekers on behalf of the commission’s chairman.
Haruna said he collected between N1 million and N1.5 million from about 25 job seekers who sought employment in the commission.
But FCC Chairman Muheeba Dankaka swore by the Holy Qur’an that she never collected any money from Kolo.
The agency chairman said she had never asked the ex-staff member to collect money from any job seeker on her behalf.
Speaking at the resumed investigative hearing of the ad hoc committee on job racketeering, Dankaka said: “If I have ever collected money from this Kolo or ask him to collect money on my behalf, may God destroy all that I have worked for.”
But Kolo, who told the ad hoc committee that his monthly salary as a staff member of the FCC was N110,000 monthly, could not account for the N38 million allegedly found in his bank accounts within a short period.
He told the committee that Dankaka directed him to liaise with Yishua Gambo, said to be the driver and Personal Assistant (PA) to the FCC Commissioner from Taraba State, to collect money from applicants.
According to him, the applicants paid the money into his personal account from which he withdrew cash in peace meal and handed same to the chairman.
Kolo also claimed to have handed the money to the chairman at her residence, after withdrawing same from various POS.
The former staff member said the appointment letters given to some job seekers were not fake, as claimed by the chairman, as they were allegedly signed and handed over to him by Dankaka herself.
He also claimed to have formally resigned his appointment with the commission last November after he was recommended, along with three others, for an appointment with the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON).
The witness alleged that since the job racketeering allegation became public, he had been receiving strange calls.
Kolo sought the help of the House to protect him.
But Dankaka said her attention was drawn to the job racketeering by the agency’s Director of Human Resources.
The FCC chairman said she referred the matter to the Committee on Promotion, Appointment and Discipline, which investigated the matter and submitted a report.
She said since the committee did not come up with a concrete issue and recommendations, she wrote to the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Commission (ICPC) to investigate the matter.
Ad Hoc Committee Chairman Yusuf Adamu Gagdi said while the committee would be fair to all those involved, anyone found wanting would face the music.
The chairman said the committee had done its background investigation and obtained many documents that would help its job.
He promised that the committee would be fair to all parties.
Gagdi wondered how a worker on Grade Level 12 could have amassed N38 million in one account and about N75 million cumulatively in three separate accounts.
Assuring Kolo that nothing bad would happen to him, the chairman said it was because the committee wanted to ensure justice that it members allowed him go.
He added: “With all that you have said and all that we know, we are not supposed to allow you to go.”
THE NATION
