Opinion: Offences And Corrupt Practices Of Dr. Muheeba Dankaka, FCC Chairman: A Clarion Call To Step Down By Faloba Abdulmumeen Fatomide 

Let the hottest seat in hell be reserved for a man who keeps mute at the face of injustice, employment marginalisation, job racketeering, illicit employment, bribery and corruption and other inhumane acts not worth portraying by an agency saddled and tasked with the onus of ensuring equity with representation, fairness & balance in employment practices, justice to all strata, but within its walls, the web of corruption has allegedly strive. It should be noted that the federal character commission is a creation of the constitution with the power to ensure that the composition of the government reflects the federal character of the country. The commission serves as a clearing house for employment by all government agencies.

It is concomitant to emphatically state that , If there is anything that had however eaten deep like canckerwom and need to be uprooted and totally eradicated from Federal Character Commission is job racketeering negating the purpose of establishing.

According to :Section 14(3) provides that ‘The composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few State or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that Government or in any of its agencies.

“In section 4 of the Federal Character Commission (FCC) Act gives the commission the power ‘to work out an equitable formula, subject to the approval of the President, for the distribution of all cadres of posts in the civil and the public services of the Federation and of the States, the armed forces, the Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies, bodies corporate owned by the Federal or a State Government and Extra-Ministerial Departments and parastatals of the Federation and States.

However, the Federal Character Commission has been enmesh in a number of corruption allegations, abuse, misused and blacken the character of the commission contrary to the primary purpose of those that concieve the idea of its formation at the initial stage. The idea of fostering unity in the area of distribution of all cadres of post into the civil and public services of the federation has now been heinously commercialized in a way that the highest bidders get the jobs in these MDA’s. It is much easier for an elephant to pass through the hole of a needle than a qualified young and academically sound Nigerian to secure employment in any of these ministries based on merit or even federal character which in some cases has been used to employ job seekers at the federal level. In the commission, it has become norms to promote passableness, employ those who knows someone that knows someone (godfather), and sempiternally keeps the children of a road side corn roaster or poor family in the unemployment web all because they cannot afford the patently dinosauric amount of money being requested by these racketeering cartel domiciled in all federal, state and even local government services, thereby make-shifting them and there families who have invested a huge amount of money in sponsoring their education from primary to higher institution.

It is visible to the blind and audible to the deaf about the ongoing investigation on job racketeering in the commission under the auspicious supervision of House of Representatives ad hoc committee to investigate MDA’s Parastatals, tertiary institutions on mismanagement of personnel recruitment, employment racketeering and gross management of the integrated payroll and personnel information system (IPPIS).

Apparently, when a man is given a purpose, he must be committed, commitment will make him to be creative, creativity will lead to productivity while productivity will make him a successful and resourceful fellow to the society. It is sardonically pathetic and in a state of pitiable bysma abysmal about the pandemonium and hullabaloo in the commission with several allegations level against the chairman of the commission by commissioners from several state’s. Allegations of many gross misconduct against the act of the commission had led to in-house brouhaha and rancour thereby dividing the commission’s commissioner’s from different states of the federation.

In line with this ongoing allegation’s among the commissioner’s and there chairman in FCC, the publics had been well informed on a testimony and clarification from a former staff of the commission, Kolo Haruna, who helps in selling job through one personal assistant and driver to Taraba State commissioner, collect money ranging from #1million to #1.5million from the applicants into his account and pay to the chairman through cash after patronising a point of sale agent, all on the directive of the chairman.

Among many allegations leveled against the chairman of the commission , Dr. Muheeba Dankaka are job racketeering, highhandedness, disregard for equitable representation, dysfunctionality, lack of transparency, mismanagement, obstruction of investigation and others not stated in this piece. Futhermore,the chairman has been accused of running the commission with a “sole administrator” approach, disregarding the involvement of other commissioner’s and violating the provision of the FCC enabling act. In 2021, a recruitment of 24 person’s were done by the chairman alone, signing the letter of employment in her capacity and enrolling seventeen (17) of them into the payroll to start receiving salaries as at January 11, 2021, completely sidelining the secretary of the commission vested with the full chest of such onus. In the same vein of this same year,thirteen (13) workers of the commission were disengaged by the chairman without reasonable justification in doing so. All her flimsy excuses was, theycame through the back door and filled those space with people from her hometown (Offa) in Kwara State precisely. Those affected by her non-challant and selfish attitude of job marginalisation are still roaming the street with no specific job to fend and take care of there families. It is highly imperative to state categorically that the chairman is truely the brain behind all corruption cases being perpetuated in the commission.

According to a commissioner from River State, “during any recruitment, the chairman do request the presence of the chief executive of such MDA’s to her office and request for 10%. The chairman also used her office in appointing two of her children to an MDA where there annual income is roughly estimated to be #6.1million and #8.2 million respectively after appointing herself as the Chairman and member of committee with highly paid agencies.

The incoherent and watery allegation of the chairman against the commissioner’s, most importantly Barrister Abdularasaq Adeoye, the commissioner from Osun State with the intent to use slots money in purchasing a said property is nothing but a self fabricated fallacy and mere nuance. As of the Yoruba adage, *ajegbodo ton wa enikunra*. (One who is at the verge of falling and looking for who to tag along with when going down).

It’s crystal clear, it was the said commissioner that led others in petitioning different anti graft agencies (EFCC and ICPC) and secret police to ensuring all anomalies going in the commission are put to an end through putting the right peg in the right hole, but deaf ear and blind eye were turned to all the petitions written then, as a result of shield the chairman enjoyed from the cabals of the immediate past administration. In 2023, three of the commissioner’s went to the DIrector of Security Services to state their plight and how they are very unhappy with the issue of job racketeering in the commission with need to conduct an immediate investigation, yet nothing came up.

No sane individual with skeleton in his wardrobe will make such move, as it will be tantamount to exposing one’s own buttock’s outside.

According to a commissioner , “if there is any individual said to be above the law, is no other person than, Muheeba Dankaka by preventing all allegations levelled against her from being looked into. The question to be asked is, Is she above the law from being investigated?

Without further ado, in a situation whereby an investigation is ongoing in respect to any appointed federal personnel, in a sane society where the rule of law is practiced appropriately, such an individual is expected to detach from his or her office sitting apparatus, that is, step down from his or her position. As such, It is not and will never be a fallacy and unarguably the right step, if Dr Muheeba Dankaka of FCC steps down from her position pending when she will be exonerated from all allegations levelled against her. All fingers are pointed at her illegality in the commission majorly among staff members and commissioners in the commission, chanting loudly and clearly the utmost need for the chairman to step down from her position as soon as possible. An injustice to one, is an injustice to all. Many heads have been denied job on merit as a result of an individual greed and lust for money.

The committee should humbly ensure all those that had been fingered in this despicable act and mess are to be brought to book by the anti graft agency who shouldn’t sleep nor slumber in the discharge of there duty, to serve as deterrent to others. The federal government should also, swiftly wade into the commission’s administration with a view to sanitising it. The House of Representatives ad hoc committee in charge of the investigation must ensure justice prevail over falsehood and darkness irrespective of whoever found culpable after a fair conclusive investigation, ensuring the matter is not swept under the carpet while the committee also beam its searchlight in other MDA’s of government. As a matter of fact, the committee should endeavour not to be swayed by emotional display of Holy Quran the chairman swore with when swearing oath of office. It is nothing but a mere display of high hypocrisy coupled with shame. If not for the benevolence of Almighty God, the merciful, a scene should have ensued the moment she raised up the holy book to swear false fully.

Concluding sarcastically, if the chairman is confident of her innocence, she should humbly visit my home town, Ile-Ife, to swear with _Ogun Laadin_ , the swift and ruthless ancient deity of thousand year’s, still striking and sparking like a deflated gas.

Faloba Abdulmumeen Fatomide

Writes From Ife Central LG