9th August, 2023
By Femi Ogunshola
The House of Representatives has threatened to invoke its constitutional authority on IPPIS, the Budget Office, and the Assets Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) for failing to appear in front of it.
Rep. Yusuf Gagdi, Chairman of the ad hoc committee probing employment racketeering and IPPIS mismanagement in MDAs, issued the threat on Wednesday in Abuja.
Gagdi stated that the committee was perplexed as to why IPPIS and the budget office were not present.
Subsequently, the committee called the Federation’s Accountant General to appear before the committee on August 10, warning that any further attempt to flee would be blocked.
He also queried why Haruna Kolo, the main suspect in the FCC employment racketeering case, did not come before the committee despite being summoned today.
“I also don’t know why Kolo is not coming back to appear before this committee; he seems to have absconded. I will sign a letter to AMCON to produce Kolo on Thursday.
“It is better he listen to us unless he is acting out a script and selling lies to us; he should come so we can interact with him. We owe everybody a duty of care.
“We need him by 10 a. m tomorrow; the Clerk of the committee should call AMCON on phone, tell them to produce Kolo or do they know what Kolo is hiding, ” he asked
“AMCON must come here, we must be accountable to Nigeria.”
Furthermore, he said Kolo should appear tomorrow or else the committee would exercise its constitutional power, adding that he is a staff member of AMCON and unless he wants to lose his job and miss his freedom.
According to him, Kolo cannot come and tell us he collected money, linked it to personality, and is not willing to substantiate the claim. He has been accused of working in three different institutions
Meanwhile, Mr. Abdulrman Ibrahim, a witness in the ongoing investigation on job racketeering, has faulted claims made by some commissioners in the FCC that they had not been given any slots since they were appointed.
Ibrahim, a beneficiary of the job racketeering and the Personal Assistant to the commissioner, representing Taraba, said, ”All the commissioners were given slots.
According to him, they were given two slots per state. There was an interview to that effect, and other processes followed in 2023. A letter of employment was given to me after the interview.
Also, Mr. Yisha’u Gambo, the driver to the commissioner, representing Taraba, who spoke in Hausa, said he collected N2 million for Kolo, which was paid by a job seeker.
‘Kolo met me and said I should talk to people who need employment so that he could talk to them. Then he called me to bring one person, and I said there are many that have been talking to him and are willing to buy a slot.
He said that after a month, ‘Kolo called me and said there was another slot worth N1.5 million’.
NAN