As President Bola Tinubu’s ministerial nominees prepare to face the Senate for screening, several allegations and issues are emerging against the chosen candidates.

One of these nominees, Stella Okotete from Delta State, is currently being investigated by the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) over allegations of “Abuse of Office.”

According to a CCB letter dated 21st March 2023, Okotete is under investigation for potential breaches of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers.

The Bureau has asked Okotete to provide all necessary documents for their investigation.

The President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, announced on Thursday the list of 28 ministerial nominees sent by President Bola Tinubu. The screening is set to begin on Monday at the National Assembly.

The list includes former Governors Mallam Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna, Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, and Dave Umahi of Ebonyi, as well as former Executive Director of the Nigeria Export-Import Bank (NEXIM), Stella Okotete, and the immediate Governor of Jigawa State, Abubakar Badaru.

The letter from the CCB concerning Okotete is titled, “Alleged Breach of Code of Conduct for Public Officer.”

According to the Bureau in the letter, it was currently investigating a case of alleged breach of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers against your office, adding, “In view of the foregoing, you are requested to furnish the Bureau with the Certified True Copies (CTC) of the following documents: i. Copies of your letters of Appointment, Promotion Letters, Record of Service and Payslips from 2019 till date. ii. All lists of loans processed and approved under you. iii Acknowledgement slips of all Assets Declaration made to the Code of Conduct Bureau since you joined the Public Service. iv All documents of your buildings and landed properties both developed and underdeveloped in Nigeria and abroad. v. Bank Account Statements of all your personal bank accounts from January 2019 to date. This request is made pursuant to the mandate and powers of the Bureau as enshrined in the 3° Schedule, Part 1, Paragraph 3(e) to the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended; Section 137 (a) and (b) and 138 (a) and (b) Panel Cede laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990 and section 104 of Evidence Act 2011.”

Those who wrote a petition against her to the President of the Senate are also referring to a 2019 report of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions which in its recommendation that was adopted revealed that Stella Okotete was indicted for forgery and was recommended for voluntary resignation or sack over fraudulent misrepresentation.

According to the report of the 8th Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions which was then chaired by Senator Samuel N, Anyanwu, who is presently the Gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in the November 11 Imo State Governorship election, Stella Okotete was found guilty after it thoroughly went through oral and written submissions available to the committee by the petitioners, Myson Law Practice on Behalf of Ilaje Global Think Tank Initiative and Stella Okotete. It was revealed that Okotete fraudulently misrepresented her qualifications to hold the post of Executive Director at the bank.

The Senate document observed that the chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC did not have 15 years post-graduation experience which is required to occupy the office as specified by the Central Bank of Nigeria circular of 15th October, 2015.

Other members of the committee who signed the report then include; Senator Mao Ohuabunwa, Senator Mohammed Shitu, Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, Senator Jeremiah Useni, Senator Matthew Urhoghide, Senator Dino Melaye, Senator Omotayo Alasoadura, Senator Binta Garba, Omogunwa Yele and Senator Philip Gyunka.

Also, a petition by Barrister Aare Oladotun Hassan Esq of Juryman Associate Chambers to disqualify the appointment of Okotete as a Ministerial designate based on a pending case instituted against her at the Federal High Court has also been submitted to the Senate.

In the letter acknowledged by the office of the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, the Ministerial nominee has a pending suit at the Federal High Court with No:FHC/ABJ/C8/2233/2023 bothering on serial false misrepresentation and forgery.

The letter read; Based on lis pending case before the Federal High Court suite No: FHC/ABJ/C8/2233/2023 /Public complaint against criminal conspiracy to wit: Violation of the CBN’S regulations on Appointment of Heads of Financial Institutions, GROSS contemptous Violation of Senate Ruling and Unimplemented 2019, Senate resolution on removal recommendation over serial fraudulent misrepresentation, No NYSC RECORDS, FALSE information in respect of her CV on Appointment as Delta State Government’s Director of Millennium Development, No accurate records, lack of prerequisite qualifications and deceitful withholding of CBN’s statutory position, obligations and duties as the Executive Director of the Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) against Stella Erhuvwuoghene Okotete.

In a related development a group, Campaign for Transparency Network, CTN, has also asked the Nigerian Senate to reject Okekete based on her questionable Academic records.

In a statement signed by the Programme Director, Ebube Nwanka, Okotete has no School Leaving Certificate but however proceeded to the University of Port Harcourt where she underwent through Remedial Studies after which she got admitted via direct entry into the Benson Idahosa University, Benin City, Edo State.

Ebube alleged further that Stella Okotete as an undergraduate had carryovers in four courses that she did not retake. The University upon discovery did not approve of her graduation from the institution, adding that the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate presented by Okotete was fake.

However, a Police action plan has been instituted to investigate the series of allegations against Okotete. The action plan cited on Friday Reads “Re: Case of Criminal Conspiracy, Offense to Wit: Falsification of Documents, Fraudulent Misrepresentation of Qualification to Hold CBN’S Statutory Position, Corrupt Practice, Monumental Fraud and Misappropriation,” the police authority ordered for discreet investigation of the allegations.

The police investigation plan partly read: “The petition was endorsed to the DIG FCIID Abuja via letter No. CB:7000/IGP SEC/AB)/VOL.613/ 312 dated 23/01/2023 and re-endorsed to the CP GI Section via letter No. CB: 7000/X/FHQ/ABJ/VOL.592/85 dated 03/02/2023 for discreet investigation”.

Former Kaduna Central lawmaker, Shehu Sani has identified five major reasons military coups are happening in West Africa.

Speaking on Saturday amidst the most recent coup in Niger Republic, Sani said the five factors are responsible for the collapse of democratic governments in West Africa.

He blamed the political class, economic challenges, security challenges, expanding influence of Russia and China as well as failure to sanction those who carry out the coups.

According to the former lawmaker via his Twitter account, “I think there are FIVE factors that are responsible for the collapse of democratic Governments in West Africa and now giving rise to military coups.”

1. Strangulation of Democracy by the political class and shrinking civil space.
2. Economic challenges that lead to widespread poverty and hunger.
3. Security challenges; the spread of terror groups and overreliance on the military.
4. Expanding presence of Russian and Chinese influence in the economic, security and political sphere.
5. Failure of sanctions to have any meaningful impact on coupists.

Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, has suggested that the recent leak of a Lagos State Government memo regarding the secret mass burial of 103 victims of the 2020 EndSARS protests may be the first of several unexpected revelations.

Adegboruwa, a member of the Justice Doris Okuwobi-led Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Restitution for Victims of SARS-Related Abuses, stated this on Channels Television’s Law Weekly.

“The leaked memo from the Ministry of Health of Lagos State is one of the many surprises that people will still see in the course of time so long as the government has not come to terms with the reality of the events of October 20th, 2020,” Adegboruwa said.

The senior lawyer argued that the reality of fatalities from the night of October 20, 2020, when soldiers stormed the Lekki Toll Gate, a major site of the protests, is undeniable.

“To blanketly assert that there was no death or there was no blood spilt in any way at all as a result in particular of gunshots by members of the Nigerian Army is to do a disservice to the souls of those people who are affected,” Adegboruwa added.

The leaked memo, dated July 19, 2023, which sparked outrage, indicated that the Lagos State Government approved a sum of N61,285,000 for the mass burial of individuals identified as victims of the 2020 EndSARS protests.

This came three years after the incident drew global criticism and condemnation from human rights organizations.

In response, the Lagos State Ministry of Health confirmed the letter’s authenticity but clarified that the bodies were not from the Lekki toll gate.

Instead, they were collected by the Lagos State Environmental Health Unit from various other areas within the state.

The National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Kaduna has upheld the victory of Donatus Mathew who contested and won the Kaura Federal Constituency seat on the platform of the Labour Party (LP) in the last general elections.

Naija News reports Mathew was an Okada rider when he contested the election held on February 25, 2023, and defeated all other aspirants for the legislative seat.

On Friday, the tribunal affirmed his victory and dismissed the petition brought by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) House of Representatives candidate for Kaura Federal Constituency, Gideon Gwani.

Gwani, a Minority whip in the House of Representatives in the 9th National Assembly had approached the tribunal to challenge and invalidate the election of his Labour Party (LP) counterpart.

However, Justice F.A. Fiberesima on behalf of the three-man panel of the tribunal while delivering judgment on the case on Friday, dismissed the petition against the LP lawmaker and ordered the PDP candidate to pay N 1.6 million damages to Donatus.

The counsel to the respondent, Zakari Sogfa told newsmen on Friday that two prayers were brought by the petitioner against his client but were dismissed by the tribunal.

“The first prayer was that the Respondent, Donatus was not qualified to contest the election that produced him as his party’s flag bearer for Kaura Federal Constituency.

”He based that conclusion on the ground that Donatus was not sponsored by his political party and that there were electoral malpractices in five areas, but the two prayers were struck out by the Tribunal for lack of merit.”

He revealed that the tribunal further ruled that Gwani did not have the right to determine a political party who should sponsor its candidate other than who should fly its flag and how it should go with its elections as such were pre-election matters.

Videos showing some angry citizens of Niger Republic beating up a female politician and another male politician have surfaced on social media and have gone viral.

The videos are making rounds on the internet at a time the country is going through a coup in which some members of the nation’s military force decided to take over power and force the President, Mohamed Bazoum to step down from power and vacate office.

As seen in the video shared by popular security analyst and counter-insurgency expert, Zagazola Makama via his Twitter handle, the youths attacked a female politician and beat her up.

Luckily for her, however, some other youths intervened and rescued her from the mob before much harm could be done to her.

Also, another unidentified male politician was similarly attacked.

Their offences could not be ascertained as of press time.

See the videos

Bayern Munich announced on Saturday that Senegalese striker Sadio Mane was in talks “about a change of club” with reports suggesting he was destined for Saudi side Al Nassr.

The German champions left Mane out of a friendly match in Tokyo, posting on Twitter: “Sadio Mane is in contract negotiations about a change of club and is therefore not in the line-up today.”

The 31-year-old former Liverpool star is due to become the latest high-profile player to join the cash-rich Saudi league.

Bild and Kicker magazine reported he was on his way for a medical with Al Nassr.

Mane would be another major signing for the club that pulled off the first coup of a raft of signings by Saudi clubs by luring Cristiano Ronaldo, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.

Mane won the Champions League and Premier League in six seasons with Liverpool and was a key part of Jurgen Klopp’s devastating front three with Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino.

When Liverpool won their first English league title for 30 years in the pandemic-disrupted 2019-2020 season, Mane scored 18 goals.

But in the summer of 2022, when he won the African Player of the Year, Mane decided he wanted a new challenge — unconfirmed rumours said he was tired of sharing the limelight with Egypt’s Salah at Anfield.

Bayern made a big play for Mane, promising to make him the focal point of an attack which had just lost the services of Robert Lewandowski to Barcelona.

After a strong start to the season at Bayern, it soon become clear that Mane was not clicking in Bavaria.

In a Bundesliga game against Werder Bremen in November, Mane suffered an injury to his fibula and his season was put on hold.

The injury forced him to miss the World Cup in Qatar at the end of last year in a crushing blow to Senegal’s chances.

While Mane returned to the Bayern team in 2023, his problems were underlined when he became involved in a physical altercation with teammate Leroy Sane following a Champions League defeat to Manchester City.

Bayern reportedly fined Mane around 350,000 euros ($385,000) and gave him a one-match suspension for his part in the incident.

He ended the season with an underwhelming 12 goals in 38 games across all competitions.

He is set to quit Bayern with two years left on his contract.

Aside from Ronaldo, Al Nassr have also signed Croatia midfielder Marcelo Brozovic, Brazil full-back Alex Telles and Ivory Coast midfielder Seko Fofana.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has disclosed that the huge spending from Saudi Arabia may end the English Premier League’s dominance.

The EPL has witnessed a massive exodus from the league to Saudi clubs. Players such as N’golo Kante, Edouard Mendy, Riyad Mahrez, Ruben Neves, Kalidou Koulibaly, Jordan Henderson, Roberto Firminho, and others left this summer.

According to The Athletic, the 52-year-old now believes the Saudi League has the financial strength to compete, and that could hurt the dominance of the EPL.

“It is not about the threat; it is a reality. They want to create a strong league, and so far, they are the league who can do it.

“The Premier League spent more than the other [leagues] because the organisation of the Premier League is better and the broadcasts and the sponsors are higher than the other leagues, so the clubs can spend what they have.

“Right now, the Saudi League—I don’t know how long they will sustain that but the feeling is that they will stay. I would say the players want to take this experience to play in that league and they are able to do it.”

He also agrees with Cristiano Ronaldo, who said a few weeks ago that he ‘opened the door’ to players signing for Saudi clubs.

“A few months ago when Cristiano (Ronaldo) was the only one to go, no one thought this many top, top extraordinary players would go to play in the Saudi league. I think in the close future it is going to happen more and more.”

It has come to light that the Department of State Services (DSS), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) allegedly disregarded separate petitions filed against the Chairman of the Federal Character Commission (FCC), Dr. Muheeba Farida Dankaka, who is currently facing probe by the House of Representatives.

The petitions, obtained by THE WHISTLER, contained serious allegations of corruption, job racketeering, nepotism, and certificate forgery, among others, leveled against Mrs. Dankaka by federal commissioners within the FCC.

These petitions, which were submitted in both 2021 and 2022, accused Mrs. Dankaka of running a job racketeering ring within the FCC in disregard for the very Act that established the Commission.

The allegations also reportedly pointed to her involvement in nepotism and running a corrupt network that favoured certain individuals in federal appointments.

The situation escalated on Wednesday, as Mrs. Dankaka and some of the commissioners engaged in a heated exchange of accusations and counter-accusations during a hearing before the House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating job racketeering at federal establishments.

The hearing shed light on the gravity of the accusations and the urgency of the matter.

However, what raises eyebrows and adds more controversy to the situation is the alleged inaction by the DSS, EFCC, and ICPC, regarding these petitions.

Despite alleged substantial evidence brought forth by the federal commissioners, the anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies seemingly turned a blind eye to the matter, failing to initiate any formal investigation or take appropriate actions against Dankaka who has been the FCC chairperson since July 2, 2020, when former President Muhammadu Buhari swore in current members of the Commission for a five-year term.

In the petition addressed to the ICPC chairman on January 18, 2021, two of the commissioners who wrote on behalf of others noted that prior to their nomination by President Buhari, they had been inundated with allegations that FCC was notorious “as the source of job racketeering” and that lopsided job postings in various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) “were not corrected by the Commission as required by law”.

The commissioners — Augustine O. Wokocha and Abdul Wasiu Bawa-Allah — noted that “the sacrosanct foundation of the creation of the Commission in section 153(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) is that application and enforcement of the principle of federal character” in government appointments and job postings.

They accused Dankaka of violating several provisions in the FCC Act and hijacking jobs meant to be distributed equally among different sections of the country despite knowing that “the Commission was patterned along parliamentary structure” to ensure fair and equitable distribution of employment opportunities, social and economic amenities, services, and infrastructural facilities “are jointly carried out by all states representatives and inclusive of a representative from FCT”

“Painfully, the chairman of the Commission has since the assumption of office held members to ransom, taking over members’ jobs and or giving out members’ assignments to directors and or administrative consultants in the Commission with impunity. Since we assumed duty as the chairman and members of the Commission, the chairman has been committing one form of grave infractions or the other and advice and cautions rendered to her were rejected by her,” said the commissioners

Listing some of the sins of Dankaka, the commissioners added, “…one of the malfeasances, perhaps the most egregious is her unilateral decisions to employ 22 people of whom 50% of them are not only from her state but from her senatorial district. The chairman hurriedly wrote to the IPPIS upon sighting our allegation to that effect in our memo requesting for the cancelation of the said recruitment which she had already denied that she knew nothing about. A copy of the letter addressed to the Director IPPIS is attached as annexure ‘C'”

They added, “There are more infractions that should be of interest to your exalted agency and it includes but not limited to the following:

“A. Diversion of public funds and keeping secret details of the financial transactions of the Commission from Hon. Commissioners. Failure to release to Commissioners duty tour allowances since assumption of office till date but releases same to herself and her aides and her consistent failure to disburse monthly running cost to the state offices of the Commission in the Country thereby crippling the statutory responsibilities of the state offices, this act is not only criminal but unpatriotic.

“Additionally the security personnel engaged on casual basis who are on meager stipends of N10,000.00 (Ten Thousand Naira) monthly were last paid in July, 2020. Our findings revealed that funds budgeted for running cost and security personnel monthly stipend were diverted to unbudgeted items, a typical example is the payment for the administrative consultants which she hired who were never budgeted for in the 2020 budget. Further to the fact that these administrative consultants are illegally given offices in the Commission as permanent staff to the detriment and displacement to the staff of the Commission, illegally allowing the consultants to work on the official files, minutes on mails among others. Most requests made by Commissioners and or staff of the Commission are ‘KW’ by the chairman while she quickly grants and approve most requests that directly affect her and her office. The germane question is where does she gets the money to pay herself and her aides and purchase items for herself while Commissioners and staff of the Commission are left to their fate in this regard.

“B. The Commission made far reaching decisions on 7th November, 2013 wherein the approve limit of the chairman for goods and services and capital projects respectively shall be in conformity with the approved limit of the federal government as contained in circular ref. No. SGF/013/1/5/1/111/57. The award of the sum of N35, 706,002.00 (Thirty Five Million, Seven Hundred and Six Thousand and Twenty-Two Naira) to a contractor for media advert was over and above the budgetary provision for publicity and advertisement which is N7,409,534 (Seven Million, Four Hundred and Nine Thousand, Five Hundred and Thirty Four Naira). Even the content of the media advert is shallow and thereby required thorough investigation to determine the actual cost expended on the media advert. A copy of the plenary decision is attached as annexure ‘D’ and Federal Character Commission amended budget 2020 as annexure `E’ respectively .

“C. Similarly, our investigation revealed that the chairman approved the purchase of three vehicles for the Commission without recourse to the plenary for consideration and approval one of the vehicles was reported to have been given out unilaterally to the head of audit unit by the chairman while he was carrying out internal audit of the Commission and this followed the unilateral amendment of FCC civil service structure with the removal of procurement section from the department of general services in clear violation of Section 9 of the Federal Character Commission (Establishment) Act. The vehicles were neither registered nor insured and apart from procurement document nothing to show that those vehicles belong to the Commission. Five vehicles that are pool vehicles are in the custody of the chairman.

“D. The job racketeering status for which the commission is known for is believed to be well and alive under indiscriminate granting of waivers not to advertise to MDAs without enforcing the principle of federal character. There is a guideline at the Commission that clearly stating the procedure to follow before a waiver not to advertise is granted to MDAs. The committee Chairman under which a particular MDA seeking for waiver, must go through the analyzed nominal roll of the organization vis-a-vis the character balancing index (CBI) and thereafter render an advise to the chairman for the granting of the waiver. In a flagrant disobedience to this guideline which is criminal in the Commission Act for anyone who flout it, the chairman is well known to liaise directly with CEO’s, sorts things directly with them, granting waiver and certificate of compliance without recourse to the commission as enshrined in Rule 28 of the Rules for Plenary, 2015 and thereby creates injury to many job seekers and in the process build animosity among Nigerians.

“E. We also noted from our investigation that in their quest for cover up of the job racketeering, the normal process mandatory for the office of the Monitoring and Enforcement to prepare summary of activities of the operational committees monthly and yearly for the Commission but because the director in the department is the anointed man of the chairman and the shady deals are jointly carried out and issues of waivers and compliance are shrouded in secrecy hence the failure to prepare the report for the Commission which is another clear violation of the Constitution and the laws of the Commission. Copies of the report are attached as annexure “F &G” for your perusal.

“F. The chairman of the Commission intentionally used her office to step down five contracts for 2020 which had sailed through the Commission’s tender’s board process and approval for the award of the contracts to the most qualified that were cleared for the job. We urge your Commission to investigate the rationale behind the stepping down of those contracts when the Federal Government 1,2,J fifth/ Jordan,’ ctinds to the Commission’s account for the jobs. The fundamental issue is that assuming the budget performance of the 2020 appropriation was not extended to 31St March, 2021, the funds wouldn’t have been available now for the 5 contracts again which the Commission requested for in the budget and same was granted because the funds had already been retired back to the government account in December, 2020.”

The aggrieved Commissioners had warned that “…Dr. Muheeba Farida Dankaka is found of lobbying, influencing and luring anyone or bodies of authorities that receive complaints against her and we believe that ICPC will stand tall in the interest of the country and her people at large to get to the root of the matter by causing a forensic investigation to be made into this matter thoroughly by disciplined officers who will go beyond the scope of this petition owing to the level of the rot in the Commission and prosecute the culprits so as to serve as deterrent to others.”

Prior to filing the petition against Dankaka, the Commissioners had through an internal memo dated November 18, 2020 called her attention to their displeasure with the way she was running the FCC “with clear disregard” to provisions of the Constitution, public service rules and other relevant laws and regulations.

They recalled mandating some Commissioners led by retired Major General Suleiman Barau to prevail on Dankaka for “corrective actions”.

They, however, regretted that Danaka “not only rejected the move but insulted, embarrassed and humiliated the team” adding that she “also went ahead to warned (sic) and threatened (sic) our honorable representatives never to attempt taking that up with you again.

“The chairman went ahead to call the team such unprintable name as 37 characters. This is clearly an affront on the entire Commission, our respective states that nominated us, the President of the Federal republic of Nigeria who appointed us and by implication the entire country, just to put mildly.”

‘CERTIFICATE FALSIFICATION’

In another petition filed against Dankaka before the EFCC, a civil society group, Lygel Youths and Leadership Initiatives, accused the FCC boss of falsifying certificates and misrepresenting her identity to secure her appointment by President Buhari as Chairman of the Commission.

While Dankaka was alleged to have claimed that she held a honorary PhD from the Pacific Western University, Denver, Colorado, USA, in 2007, the group noted that the National Universities Commission (NUC) had declared the University’s study campus in Owerri where Dankaka allegedly got the PhD from as “illegal and consequently shut it down,” hence had no capacity to issue such certificate.

Attaching different documents to the petition to back their claims, they raised other issues around the FCC chairman’s academic qualifications, including inconsistencies in the names on her MSc and WAEC certificates:

“That Dr. Muheeba Farida Dankaka’s name on the master degree certificate obtained from Ahmadu Bello University is Muiba Nike Salau which is not consistent with the name presented to the Senate by President Muhammadu Buhari -(Muheeba Farida Dankaka).

“That Dr. Muheeba Farida Dankaka’s name appears on the first degree certificate obtained from Bayero University, Kano as Muibat Adenike Salawu, the name is also at variance with the name officially presented by the president to the Senate for screening and confirmation and the name with which she appends her signature for official documents in office.

“That Dr. Muheeba Farida Dankaka’s name on the West African Examinations Council School Certificate obtained in 1978 is Salawu Muibat Adenike which is not consistent with other documents she claimed to have had. It is clear from our investigation carried out on the Testimonial obtained some years later that she enrolled at St Clare’s (ANG.) Girls’ Grammar School in 1975 and graduated in 1978.

“It is a notorious fact that she spent three years in the Senior Secondary School, a claim that was not consistent with the then educational system in the country. Further to this, there was nothing to show that she accounted for the missing years before her enrolment in the school mentioned.”

Meanwhile, AFTER allegedly failing to get the ICPC and EFCC to investigate and prosecute Dankaka for corruption and job racketeering, the FCC commissioners approached the Department of State Services (DSS) with the same allegations in a petition dated September 22, 2022.

In the petition, Wokocha and Bawa-Allah urged the DSS Director-General to “carry out a covert operation” at the FCC headquarters with a view to obtaining evidence of the alleged job racketeering ballooning under Dankaka’s watch.

They warned that failure to stop the FCC chairman “could grow to breed more corruption and potentially (lead to) death”.

One of the FCC commissioners told THE WHISTLER that despite the petitions to the different agencies, nothing had been done to stop the trend.

When THE WHISTLER contacted him for his reaction to the allegation, the DSS spokesperson, Peter Afunanya, simply replied “No comment”

Wilson Uwujaren, the EFCC spokesman, did not respond to phone calls put across to him by our correspondent.

When Dankaka appeared before the House of Reps committee investigating the matter on Wednesday, she swore that “I had made my money” before joining the FCC and didn’t need to soil her hands to get rich.

At the resumed hearing, Moses Anaughe, the commissioner representing Delta State, openly accused Dankaka of selling employment slots and sometimes demands 10 percent of the total vacancies in MDAs.

“Dr Dankaka will request the chief executives to come to her office and discuss 10 per cent. She does collect 10 per cent from all MDAs of all the employment she is signing. All those 10 per cent she is collecting, those are the slots that she employs agents that are selling.

“I have two employment letters here of her children in juicy agencies where the annual salary is N6.1 million; the other is N8.2 million. I have the appointment letters here.

“I just also want to inform this committee if she finds any agency doing employment that is paying more than these MDAs, she will move them to that MDA. She moves them from MDA to MDA.

“She has a lot of agents selling slots for her. After selling, they have a central pool where they remit all the monies, whereby they will withdraw and collect USSD and give it to her. I have all the account details here. In my submission, we have a lot of things to reveal.”

But responding to the allegation, the FCC chairman said “I now believe the adage that says when you fight corruption, corruption will fight back.

“I did not come to this place (FCC) to make money but to serve my father’s land.

“I swear with Almighty God, apart from the oath, I can take an oath with the Quran. Before I came here, I had made my name. I had made my money.

“Before I got to this place (FCC), they were selling slots. The place was like a marketplace. You can find out from people that live in Abuja if I am lying,” she said.

Beyond every iota of doubt, the pace, variety and number of ‘policies’ unleashed by the two-months-old President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration on the Nigerian polity fittingly amount to an ‘Economic Tsunami’. The entire economy has been thoroughly disrupted; every economic agent is hard hit, and the way forward and how soon the thick fog will give way to light remain in the realm of conjecture. Two months after the controversial “fuel subsidy is gone” pronouncement by the President, the heavy dust it raised is yet to settle. The price of everything has gone through the roof, inflation is at runaway pace. Millions of the citizenry are getting impoverished by the day—as their disposable income have totally lost value.

The crash of the Naira triggered by the ‘forced’ unification of multiple exchange rates (or Naira floatation), has seen the national currency practically on a tailspin. While the local currency was officially going for N465/$1 in May, today, it goes for about N850/$1—with every tendency to hit N1000/$1 in no distant future. And from all indications, these ‘policies’, including the dismantling of several other initiatives of the Central Bank of Nigeria (e.g. non-oil export drive) were not necessarily premeditated. Rather, they are mere products of whimsical arbitrariness, playing to the gallery or display of hubris and ‘heroism.’

In truth, Nigerians have lived with petrol (Premium Motor Spirit, PMS) subsidy for decades—a practice that over time got corrupted to epitomise malfeasance and opacity in public finance dealings. A gang of unscrupulous Nigerians and their foreign cohorts took charge of the subsidy regime to practically drain every kobo in the nation’s public till. From few hundreds of millions usually committed to subsidy payment, the amount in a few odd years ballooned to several trillions of Naira. This impoverished the Government to the point of having huge and rising deficits in its annual budgets, and borrowing endlessly from virtually all parts of the globe for the provision of basic infrastructure. Indeed, at some point, the Federal Government under President Muhammadu Buhari had reportedly been borrowing even for recurrent expenditures including payment of salaries of civil/public servants.

Bad as this is, the peremptory approach to ending fuel subsidy, in all honesty, has left Nigeria and Nigerians worse off, economically. All manner of panic measures are being peddled: more PMS importers are being licensed to keep importing—thus, further depressing the Naira exchange rate vis-à-vis the dollar. No word is heard about re-streaming the country’s four moribund refineries that have been grounded for years. Many state governments are devising various ways of assuaging the pains of their civil servants who can no longer afford going to work on a daily basis because of high transportation costs and soaring cost of living generally. Not a few states have reduced their official work days from five to three or two; others are promising ‘cash awards’ and salary increase even in the face of daunting revenue challenges.

The Federal Government itself seems bereft of effective antidote to the miasma into which it unwittingly plunged the nation. It has rather deployed a number of disingenuous tactics and methods to supress industrial actions (protests and demonstrations) by organised labour and civil society bodies. It had also secured an ‘omnibus’ injunction from the industrial court to ‘perpetually’ stop any person or group(s) from protesting against its disruptive policies. This is why two months after the “fuel subsidy is gone” pronouncement, no palliative package has been effectively put together by the Federal Government. And yet the entire populace is reeling under crushing poverty, accentuated by spiking costs of transportation, foodstuffs and all else, triggered by fuel subsidy removal.

Meanwhile, both the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), apparently moved by the deteriorating plight of the citizenry and the muddled ‘palliative’ proposals of the Government, have issued, in strong terms, fresh protest notices. Specifically, the NLC has given the Federal Government a seven-day ultimatum to “reverse all its economic policies.” The Labour body says “the Federal Government risked an indefinite nationwide strike if the policies are not reviewed before August 2, 2023.” Towards this end, the NLC has also directed all its affiliates and state councils to “immediately begin mobilization of workers and other Nigerians, including civil society allies, for a long-lasting strike and mass protests” should the government fail to meet its demands.

On its part, the TUC has issued a “warning” to the Federal Government, and set a two-week deadline for negotiation, threatening to initiate protests after August 19, 2023. TUC President, Festus Osifo says “the demand of Nigerians at this moment is for the Federal and state governments to implement policies that can lead to reduction in the cost of living rather than actions that would inflate it.” These threats (by NLC and TUC) and protests already ongoing in some cities across the country actually keep the Nigerian polity in a state of anomie. There is widespread hunger, anger and poverty—being worsened by shrinking disposable income—and Government’s apparent tardiness in providing some succour.  

Indeed, in the face of this dreary augury, the Tinubu administration seems to have adopted policy somersaults, prevarications and tergiversations as public opprobrium and criticism keep mounting. Its earlier proposal to deploy N500 billion to making ‘cash transfer’ of N8000 per poor household for six months had to be ‘dumped’ for a review. The rumoured proposal to increase the salaries of civil/public servants at the Federal level seems yet hanging. In the nitty-gritty of plans for palliatives, the National Economic Council (NEC) unanimously faulted the existing Federal social data, saying it lacked integrity and credibility. Consequently, the ‘cash transfer’ dole had to be moved to the states to administer—on the unfounded belief that the sub-nationals should have more credible social data—to reach the intended audiences/targets.

In truth however, shifting the administration of the Federal Government’s palliatives package (in part or full) amounts to taking an uncharted path that could lead to nowhere. Whatever ‘goodies’ that come the way of the state and local governments from the Centre usually end up as ‘political patronage’ to be dispensed along party lines. The fuel subsidy removal palliatives cannot be anything different at the sub-national levels. Truly, hardly is there any state or local government area in Nigeria today that has updated and credible social data to reach the poor households that really deserve some handouts. Unfortunately, what the Nigerian economy badly needs at this time is stimulus package rather than mere palliatives that are likely to end up in wrong hands and pockets. Palliatives (especially cash transfers) are unearned, unproductive ‘transfer payments’ that do not make for any economic progress.

All said, the flurry of ‘activities’ and policy somersaults of the President Tinubu administration can only show vividly that it neither undertook a proper assessment of the economy nor the implications of the hasty removal of fuel subsidy, and Naira exchange rates unification. For a long time, for sure, the administration will keep grappling with the unintended consequences of those ‘reform’ policies, among others. In fact, more recent policy pronouncements like declaration of “state of emergency on food security”, cancellation and/or postponement of take-off dates of some taxes and levies are being perceived as moves to merely douse socio-economic and political tensions in the land. The government seems to have put too many irons in the fire at the same time. That is, biting off more than it can actually chew!

• The author, Mr. Okeke, an economist, sustainability expert and consultant on business strategy lives in Lekki-Lagos. He can be reached at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

City FM is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Programme: CITY TALKS WITH REUBEN ABATI

Time: 12:00pm

Guest: Professor Jideofor Adibe (Professor of Political Science and International Relations)

Topic: President Tinubu’s Ministerial List

Date: 29TH JULY, 2023
                         
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