Chair of the Federal Character Commission (FCC) Dr Muheeba Dankaka, who has been accused by her fellow commissioners of selling available federal jobs, has said that the allegation against her is a lie, but revealed that commissioners and staff of the FCC actually do sell jobs in Abuja.
Her words, while answering questions on the floor of a House of Representatives committee: “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 did not stop there: she said a commissioner bought a landed property and promised the seller to pay for it with job slots. Her countermeasures foiled the plan and drew the ire of the commissioner and others allied with him.
The gang-up against her she said intensified as she made to check the alleged corruption and deviation of the Commission from its original mandate.
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.
Recall that a few commissioners, tagged ‘Integrity Group’ called for an investigation of the chair, accusing her of highhandedness, job racketeering, abuse of extant laws, and the FCC establishment Act since arriving to head the Commission.
But briefing the House Committee on their allegations, two commissioners,: Abdulrazak Adewuyi and Okwacha Augustine, representing Osun and Rivers States respectively 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.
The FCC Chair and the 36 commissioners are to reappear on Monday, July 31, 2023 for the continuation of the investigative hearing.