FCC Job Racketeering: We paid N3m, please give us back our jobs – Witnesses
Two witnesses who were victims of the job racketeering at the Federal Character Commission (FCC) testified before the House ad-hoc committee on Tuesday and pleaded that the employment letters which has been retrieved from them after they paid the sum of 1million and 2million to be given back to them.
The witnesses, Abdulmalik Isah Ahmed and Ali Muhammed Yero who testified before the House committee investigating federal ministries, department and agencies, parastatals and tertiary institutions on mismanagement of the Integrated payroll and Personnel information system (IPPIS) also said that they paid the sum of 1million naira and 2million naira to Haruna Kolo of the Federal Character Commission and Badamasi Jalo, another victim who was coordinating payments for other candidates for Haruna Kolo for employment into the Federal Character Commission.
According to Abdulmalik Ahmed, their employment letter which was earlier issued to 27 of them was latter retrieved from them at a meeting on the 17th of July 2023 by a committee who investigated them and collected their original appointment letters.
He said the committee set up by the commission promised that they will issue another appointment letter to them.
He added that the Secretary to the Taraba state commissioner told them that they do not send appointment letter to the commission but promised them that they will conduct an investigation into the case, retrieve their monies and regularize them and they were asked to come back on Tuesday 25th July 2023.
“I graduated 11 years ago without a job and I had the chance to become a Boko Haram but I did not because I want to be a good citizen of Nigeria. My brothers Nurudeen Yaro and Abdulrazak Yaro paid the sum of 2million 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 that is why I would be captured under IPPIS platform .Badamasi brought the employment letter with some documents for me on the 5th August 2022, Badamasi took me to Treasury House in Abuja where Kolo Haruna took me to the IPPIS office and I was captured on IPPIS platform.
“Kolo Haruna and Badamasi told me my posting letter will be ready after 2weeks and I got my first salary in January 2023, 5month after the enrollment by IPPIS, after that, Badamasi created a watts app group platform for us and we came to in February2023 to see the director Human resources for posting because Kolo could no longer be reached on phone and that the Chairman secured a job for him at AMCON in Lagos.
“Photo copies of our employment letters was collected by the Director of Human Resources for posting once he got clearance from the Chairperson. On Thursday 13th July 2023, I received a message from Gideon Zubairu a staff in the Human Resources that we should come for a meeting, on Monday 17th July 2023.
“So seeing the development on social media prompted me to come forward and testify,” he added.
Also testifying before the committee, Abdulmalik Isa Ahmed another witness said that though his employment letter has been retrieved, he still receive salary up till date despite not been posted by the commission.
“This is the list of five among us who have stopped receiving their pay though I still received my salary up to date. When we were pressurizing the Commission, we sent this documents to Badamasi Jalo, already this document has been signed for the enrolment of some of us that have stopped receiving pay.
“So, the down signature is that of the Secretary. When we went to the chairman, because I happened to be among the three that appeared before the chairman. Before the Secretary effect anything, she said the document was forged.
“After having the appointments, Mr Kolo promised us to be posted in two months time. That was when we learnt that there was a recruitment in 2021 recruitment, each of the Commissioners have candidates and the directors, that was the selection adopted. So, we who were nobody’s, ordinary citizens of the country we came through this process.
“All of the Commissioners are having candidates nothing less than a candidate and directors, some of the directors from what I know, because I have been interacting with people in the system. So, we came through Kolo, through this means of paying money and he promised us that since he has others to go with our batch. That was the reason we were convinced about him. We were convinced that we have to go along.
“The information was on the basis that, our appointment is genuine with established knowledge that we have that there was an ongoing recruitment of 2021 batch. So, based on that, we capitalized on that, that we are going to be communicated on our postings together.
“So, we were convinced because I know one of them, I think the Secretary to the Taraba Commissioner, so we know that they have been communicated, documentation.
Speaking on how he got to know Haruna Kolo, Abdulmalik said “I get to know Kolo through the driver of Taraba Commissioner. I transferred a million Naira to Kolo’s account on the arrangement that, because I was told that, the monthly pay is about N140,000 or N130,000. So, we agreed on N1.5million with driver first.
“We bargained with the driver on behalf of Kolo. His name is Yusha’u Gambo.
The witness however said he has never had any interaction with any Commissioner or Chairman of the Commission regarding payment of money or paid to any of them.
Interrogating him, the Chairman of the Committee, Yusuf Gagdi asked Abdulmalik if he had any personal transaction either in private, cash or transfer with any Commissioners of the Commission or the Chairman of the Federal Character Commission.
Gagdi said “at any point, did Kolo tell you, he is collecting the money on behalf of the Commissioners or the Chairman of the Commission? In response, Abdulmalik said he didn’t.
Credit: Vanguard News
