The table has turned on the two whistleblowers, Mrs. Rose Odey and
Idachaba Tijani who paid N250,000 each for fake jobs in federal ministries. On
Tuesday, Odey and Tijani testified before the joint Senate Committee on Federal
Character and Inter-Governmental Affairs and Employment, Labour and
Productivity on how they each paid N250,000 to Juliet Egobunor and Simon
Odujebe for employment in the Ministry of Land and Housing and Trade and
Investment Ministry.
But the table turned yesterday when the Chairman of the Federal
Civil Service Commission (FCSC), Deaconess Joan Ayo described the two
employment letters tendered by Mrs. Odey and Idachaba as mere “photocopies.”
They could not produce original employment letters. The two acknowledged that
they were given photocopies, which was what was used to register them as staff
of the ministries where they worked before they were apprehended. Besides, Ayo
also informed the joint committee that the Ahmed S. Dantanko who allegedly
signed the employment letter issued Odey and Tijani was dead.
Before he died, Dantanko reportedly left the services of the
commission in 2008 and was never of a director rank. Rather, he was a pool
officer, at best, a civil servant, according to the FCSC chairman. It also
emerged that Egobunor and Odujebe, fingered by Odey and Tijani, as the
masterminds, are now “on the run.” While Juliet has absconded from duty at the
Ministry of Lands and Housing where she works, Odujebe has “jumped bail,” said
the FCSC boss. “There’s no record of the employment of Odey and Tijani anywhere
in the FCSC. This has nothing to do with us. If we have apprehended Simon and
Juliet, we would have got to the end of this case. They are on the run. We have
told their ministry that they must produce them. If they can’t, they must
produce their next-of-kin because that record must be in their files,” Ayo
said.
Giving testimony before the joint committee yesterday, Ayo, who
had earlier been mandated to unravel the authenticity of the employment letters
held by Odey and Tijani, further informed stunned lawmakers that although “we
wanted to bring him before the committee but, unfortunately, he died in an
accident last year. He was a civil servant and not a director. He signed for
the then chairman. He was posted out of the commission as a pool officer.”
Asked by a member of the committee how it could be proved that the said
Dantanko was, indeed dead, she replied: “I asked for the record and that was
where we got to know that in addition to leaving the commission, he was also
dead.”
Chairman of the joint committee, Senator Dahiru Awaisu Kuta asked
Tijani how he was absorbed into the federal ministry where he worked and he
replied that, “a file was just opened for me at the ministry and that was it.”
Ayo faulted this process and said it contravened laid-down civil service
procedure of employment. She said, “if the employment was genuine, he would
have gone to the office of the head of service; that is where posting is
issued. Nobody gets a letter and goes straight to the ministry.
As a pool officer, that is not done.” Ayo further added that
investigation at the commission showed that the employment letters of Tijani
and Odey had the same number. “It means that somebody’s employment letter has
been photocopied and is being used over and over again.”
[Report by ADETUTU FOLASADE-KOYI, Daily
Sun Abuja]
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