There was mild drama on Monday when a former Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System desk officer at the Federal Character Commission, Haruna Kolo, accused of collecting bribes from job seekers in exchange for employment, owned up to the allegation.
This was just as he admitted to having received over N75m from desperate jobseekers on the instructions of the Chairman of the FCC.
Not done, Kolo claimed that the FCC boss instructed him to transfer the money to his (Kolo) personal account and pay her in cash which he did a couple of times in her house.
Kolo made the revelation at the ongoing investigative hearing by the House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating federal ministries, departments and agencies, parastatals and tertiary institutions on mismanagement of the IPPIS.
The ex-IPPIS desk officer told the lawmakers that he resigned from FCC on November 2, 2022 to join the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria but ended up getting salaries twice from FCC.
He added that the anomaly was reported to the Human Resource Officer who told him that the issue would be addressed.
He said, “When she came to FCC as the Executive Chairman, she appointed me as a protocol officer and I carried out my duty diligently.
“On the allegations of job racketeering, the FCC Chairman instructed me to liaise with one Mr Shehu, who is a personal driver and Personal Assistant to the Taraba State Commissioner. As a desk officer, I was responsible to take whoever was employed to IPPIS for capturing. No one could go there without a letter from the Chairman or Human Resource Officer of the FCC.
“When she came, she wrote a letter to the Accountant General of the Federation, instructing that no letter from the FCC should be honoured except she signs the letter. So, whenever there was new employment, she signs, gives to me and I take it to the Accountant General’s office for capturing.
“Shehu is the one that brought those who paid money to my account for job, some paid N1m, others N1.5m, all to my personal account, my Ecobank account. She asked me to give cash to her, which I did through POS. So, there is no evidence of transfer or anything.
