The House of Representatives has threatened to invoke its constitutional power on the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System, Budget Office and Assets Management Company of Nigeria over failure to appear before it.
Yusuf Gagdi, Chair, ad hoc committee investigating job racketeering and mismanagement of IPPIS in MDAs, said this.
Gagdi, who spoke in Abuja on Wednesday, said the committee was at a loss as to why the IPPIS and Budget Office were not present at the meeting.
The committee subsequently summoned the Accountant General of the Federation to bring along the IPPIS Officer before the committee on August 10, adding that any further attempt to run away would be resisted.
He also queried why Haruna Kolo, the prime suspect in the Federal Character Commission job racketeering saga, did not appear before the committee after he was asked to present himself on Wednesday.
Gagdi said: “I also don’t know why Kolo is not coming back to appear before this committee.
“He seems to have absconded.
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“I will sign a letter to AMCON to produce Kolo on Thursday.
“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 10am tomorrow.
“The Clerk of the committee should call AMCON on the phone, tell them to produce Kolo.
“Or do they know what Kolo is hiding?
“AMCON must come here.
“We must be accountable to Nigeria.”
Gagdi further said Kolo should appear on Thursday or else the committee would exercise its constitutional power, adding that as a staff of AMCON, he is duty bound to appear except wants to lose his job and 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, Abdulrman Ibrahim, a witness in the ongoing investigation into job racketeering, has faulted claims by some Commissioners in the FCC that they had not been given any job slots since they were appointed.
Ibrahim, a beneficiary of the job racketeering and Personal Assistant to Commissioner representing Taraba State, said: “All the commissioners were given slots.”
According to him: “They were given two slots each 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, Yisha’u Gambo, the driver to the Commissioner representing Taraba State, who spoke in Hausa, said he collected N2 million for Kolo, which was paid by a job seeker.
Gambo said: “Kolo met me and said I should talk to people that 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 that they are willing to buy slots.
“After a month, Kolo called me to tell me that there is another slot, which is N1.5 million.”
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the investigation continues on Thursday (today) as witnesses and the affected MDAs have been ordered to appear.
End.
