‘Job racketeering’: Reps committee orders arrest of ex-FCC staff for shunning invitation

The house of representatives has issued an arrest warrant against Yusuf Kolo, a former staff of the Federal Character Commission (FCC), over failure to appear before the ad hoc committee investigating job racketeering in ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).

Yusuf Gagdi, chairman of the committee, issued the arrest warrant on Thursday after Kolo failed twice to appear before the panel to answer questions bordering on allegations of job racketeering while he was a staff of the FCC.

“For Haruna Kolo, the position of this committee is that he would lose his freedom,” Gagdi said.

“We will issue a warrant of arrest in respect of Haruna Kolo and compel security agencies to present him before this committee at any given period if he is so arrested.

“So this committee would communicate officially to the various security agencies.”

TheCable had reported how Kolo had alleged that job seekers paid millions of naira into his personal accounts for him to take to Muheeba Dankaka, the agency’s chairman.

Kolo, who now works with the Assets Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON), said Dankaka appointed him as her chief protocol officer, while he was serving at FCC.

He told the panel that he was never involved in selling job offers, adding that he only acted on the instructions of Dankaka.

The chairman of the committee had on Wednesday questioned why Kolo failed to honour the invitation to appear before the panel.

“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,” Gagdi had said.

“It is better he listens to us unless he is acting a script and selling lies to us. He should come so we can interact with him. We owe everybody the duty of care.

“We need him by 10 a.m tomorrow, the clerk of the committee should call AMCON on the phone, [and] tell them to produce Kolo or do they know what Kolo is hiding?”

Gagdi had said the committee would “exercise its constitutional powers” if Kolo failed to appear on Thursday, as he has been accused of working in three different institutions.