IT is increasingly becoming embarrassing how the Federal Government and some of its agencies are failing to perform their statutory duties.
Recent happenings have shown that the Department of State Security (DSS) whose responsibility it is to run security checks on nominees into public offices has derelict on that duty.
More than once, the media have revealed how the DSS has failed to do due diligence on government’s appointees.
Reports on how nominees who were under investigations for corruption were appointed into board of Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and appointment of dead persons by President Muhammadu Buhari into boards of different parastatals and the latest certificate scam against Kemi Adeosun, Minister of Finance and Okoi Obono-Obla, Presidential Aide on Prosecution and Chairman Special Investigation Panel on the Recovery of Public Property are pointers to the fact that some institutions and individuals within the government are not performing their duties.
MAIMUNA ALIYU AND ALANAMU’S ICPC BOARD APPOINTMENT
When the ICIR broke the news on August 4, 2017 that two Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) board members appointed by the Federal Government were under investigation for ‘multi-million-naira corruption’, it was like a fairy tale that can never be true.
The two appointees, Maimuna Aliyu and Sa’ad Alanamu were investigated for series of corruption cases while they served in public offices.
While Alanamu was being investigated on corruption charges allegedly committed while he headed several institutions in Kwara State, Aliyu has a longstanding case of abuse of office, misappropriation and diversion of public funds against her while working with the FCTA owned Aso Savings and Loans.
The ICIR report and public outcry that followed the discovery prompted the Federal Government to step down the two of them from the proposed 14-man board.
The newspaper would later report that the Federal Government through the Department of State Security Services (DSS) indeed failed to carry out a security check on the nominees.
DEAD PERSONS ‘RESURRECTED’ IN BUHARI’S APPOINTMENT
It was not long after the opprobrium that greeted that scandal died that the Federal Government found itself in another faux pas.
This time around, it was the appointment of persons confirmed to have died sometime ago, into boards of parastatals in the country.
Specifically, it was in December29, 2017, when the Government after appointing eight dead persons into those boards that it became clear that the DSS had no input in cross checking the list of all the appointees. But it was media scrutiny of the list that revealed how the dead ‘resurrected’ in the list.
The office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) announced the appointment of 209 board chairpersons and 1,258 board members.
It was the largest single appointments made by the President since assuming office in 2015.
The appointed members were late Reverend Christopher Utova as member of Nigeria Institute of Social and Economic Research; late Senator Francis Okpozo as Chairman of Nigerian Press Council, late Chief Donald Ugbaja as a member of the Consumer Protection Council.
Appointment of dead persons into boards was not the only issue there, the list of the appointees also contained duplication of names, with few persons appointed into more than one board.
Sabo Nanono was appointed a member of the board of the National Agency for Science and Engineering (NASENI). He was, however, also appointed as chairman of the Board of Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC)
Kabiru Matazu was appointed as chairman of FCT Universal Education Board and also appointed to chair the board of Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta.
Umaymah Abdullahi was named on the board of Lake Chad Research Institute, Maiduguri as well as the Federal Medical Centre, Sokoto.
Also, Habiba Umar was appointed on the board of the Federal Medical Centre, Yola and also Federal Medical Centre, Birnin-Kebbi.
The Federal Government after the embarrassment was forced to call for a review of the list.
These, were clear indications that there was no transmission of any security report on the nominees from the DSS to the Senate that has the constitutional duty to finally clear them. Perhaps, there was no security check by the Secret police in the first instance.
KEMI ADEOSUN’S NYSC CERTIFICATE SCAM
In what has come as a dent on the integrity of the administration, Kemi Adeosun, its Minister of Finance has been in the eye of the storm over alleged certificate scam.
She is alleged to have forged the NYSC Exemption Certificate many years after graduation.
Adeosun, appointed in 2015 as a Minister alongside others, has been working with a forged NYSC Exemption Certificate.
Despite the fact that President Buhari referred her, and other Ministerial nominees to the DSS in September 2015 for security screening, it is not clear how Adeosun’s fake NYSC exemption certificate escaped the eagle eyes of the security operatives at the DSS headquarters.
What is not clear whether there was connivance between the DSS, Adeosun and the Senate to cover up the scam if she truly underwent the security check by the DSS and final scrutiny by the Senate?
But it was again the media−PREMIUM TIMES that blew the lid after months of painstaking investigation.
OKOI OBONO-OBLA’S WAEC CERTIFICATE SCAM
If media reports about his forged WAEC certificate are anything to go by, Okoi Obono-Obla, Special Assistant to the President on Prosecution is in a serious scam and the Federal Government is into yet another embarrassment.
Albeit, his scam has not gained prominence like Adeosun, there have been calls for the removal of Obla who is also the Chairman pecial Investigation Panel on the Recovery of Public Property.
He is alleged to have forged his West African Examination Council (WAEC) result with which he obtained admission and studied Law at the University of Jos.
According to Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), a civil society asking for his sack and prosecution, Obla’s genuine WAEC result showed that he was absent for Literature examination, but the result he used for admission indicated that he obtained C6 in the subject.
“We proceeded to investigate the complaints and made the following startling findings: Obono-Obla gained admission into the University of Jos with a suspected fake WASCE result. Evidence available to us shows that Okoi Obono-Obla (Ofem Okoi Ofem) sat for May/June 1982 (examination registration No. 09403/247) at Mary Knoll College, Ogoja, where he obtained the following results: English Language – C6, Literature in English- Absent, Bible Knowledge- C4, Government- A1, Economics- C5, Mathematics- F9, Chemistry- F9, Biology- F9. We attach herewith a copy of the result issued by WAEC.
“This result can also be easily verified on WAEC result portal by obtaining a PIN card at the cost of N700.00
“Okoi Obono-Obla (Ofem Okoi Ofem) took Joint Matriculation Examination (JME) conducted by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) in 1985 and was offered admission into the Faculty of Law University of Jos (in the 1985/1986 session) where he presented a statement of result allegedly obtained from Mary Knoll College, which details are as follows: English Language- C6, Literature in English- C, Bible Knowledge- C4, Government- A1, Economics- C5, Mathematics- F9, Chemistry- F9, Biology- F9.
“You will see that whereas the genuine WAEC result has listed the result for Literature as ABSENT, ANNEXURE B, which forms the basis on which Okoi Obono-Obla (Ofem Okoi Ofem) was offered admission to study Law at the university, claims that he obtained C6 in Literature.
“However, on the basis of the forged result, he graduated from the University of Jos in 1989 with a second class (lower division) and proceeded to the Nigerian Law School where he passed out from in 1991 with a pass grade after failing the law school examination in 1990,” HURIWA revealed.
This is yet another case of failure by the DSS to do a background check on the man who heads the government’s panel to fight corruption.
But with all these damning revelations, the Federal Government seems unconcerned.
Except for the duo of Maimuna Aliyu and Alanamu, who were removed from ICPC board and the dead who couldn’t have taken their positions on the board they were mistakenly appointed after their demise, it is unlikely the government will act on Kemi Adeosun and Obla’s certificate scams.
There seems also that nobody is going to be queried or relieved of his duty over these deliberate acts or unpardonable errors at the DSS headquarters.