After Paying N1m For Job Slot, I Got Salaries Without Working At FCC – Man Confesses

BY SEGUN ADEBAYO – The House of Representatives ad-hoc Committee investigating allegations of job racketeering and abuse of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) was on Tuesday treated to another round of revelations on events that transpired at the Federal Character Commission (FCC) under the watch of its embattled Chairperson, Muheeba Dankaka

The latest updates on the alleged theatre of absurdities at the Commission came from two witnesses, Abdulmalik Isah Ahmed and Ali Muhammad Yero, who confirmed paying a combined sum of N3 million to access jobs placements at FCC.

Their testimonies before the lawmakers came on the heels of confessions by a former Protocol officer at the Federal Character Commission (FCC), Haruna Kolo that he received millions of Naira from job-seekers on behalf of his boss, Dankaka,

Kolo had, while testifying before the House Committee, claimed that he collected various sums of money and transferred same to Dankaka, adding that his reward came through the job that saw him crossing over to work with the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).

Though the FCC Chairperson has denied the allegations, maintaining that she could prove her innocence by swearing with the Quran, the two witnesses, Ahmed and Yero, said they were convinced to make the payment after strong promises from their contact persons that both of them would be among those to be offered employment in 2021.

According to Ahmed; “This is because, we learned that, there was a recruitment, 2021 recruitment, each of the Commissioners and directors have candidates. We who were nobodies, ordinary citizens of the country, we came through this process.”

“After having the appointments, Mr Kolo promised us to be posted in two months’ time. That was the reason we were convinced about him. I get to know Kolo through the driver of the Taraba Commissioner at FCC. I transferred a million Naira to Kolo’s account on the arrangement, because I was told that, the monthly pay is about N140,000 or N130,000. So, we agreed on N1.5 million with the driver first. We bargained with the driver on behalf of Kolo. His name is Yusha’u Gambo.”

For Ali Muhammad Yero, who also testified before the House panel, his two brothers had to cough out N2 million in installments to secure the job slot for him, adding that one of them paid N1.5 million while the other paid N500,000 as the balance.

He stated thus; “My brothers, Nurudeen Yero and Abdulrazak Yero paid the sum of N2 million Naira to Badamasi Yaro’s account on the 2nd of August 2022. Badamasi Yaro is working with Haruna Kolo and the money paid into his account was for a job at Federal Character Commission.

“Haruna Kolo told me the slot was from the Chairperson of the Commission which is why I would be captured under the IPPIS platform Badamasi brought the employment letter with some documents for me on the 5th of August 2022. Badamasi took me to Treasury House where Kolo Haruna took me to the IPPIS office and I was captured on the IPPIS platform”.

However, the witnesses said their appointment letters were later collected by the Human Resources unit of the FCC and promised to be regularised after an investigation, but further explained that despite the fact that, his appointment letter was collected by the FCC, he was still receiving salary.

Yero said that not wanting to continue receiving salaries without working, he started mounting pressure on Kolo and others formally sort out his posting.

Speaking after the witnesses’ testimonies, the House Committee Chairman, Yusuf Adamu Gagdi told them to reach out to other applicants who may have been involved in the job racketeering exercise with a promise that the lawmakers would arrange to meet and engage with them on the matter.

Furthermore, Gagdi informed the Committee’s Clerk to invite Haruna Kolo, the Secretary and driver to the Commissioner representing Taraba in the FCC to appear before the Committee on Wednesday to give explain their alleged roles as proxies in the job racketeering arrangement.