Nigerian official admits taking bribes to give government jobs

A Nigerian official says he received millions of naira in bribes to give government jobs to applicants, but claims he acted on the instructions of his boss.

Haruna Kolo worked at the Federal Character Commission for years before being moved to the government’s bad debt company, Asset Management Company of Nigeria. Mr Kolo said he took money from several applicants in return for jobs during his time at the FCC.

The agency was created to ensure government offices reflect the country’s ethno-religious spread when giving out jobs.

– Job racketeering

The official said he charged between N1 million and N5 million for each role, depending on the office the applicant was sent to.

Mr Kolo, however, denied being involved in “job racketeering.” He said he cashed and handed the funds to his former supervisor and the head of the agency, Muheeba Dankaka, whom he served as chief of protocol. Over 300 employment letters were issued.

Job racketeering is rampant in Nigeria where unemployment rate is over 33%. Officials take money to give government jobs, priced by many applicants as more secure and potentially more rewarding than private sector jobs.

“The money is always sent to my account, which I subsequently cashed and send to her in cash,” Mr Kolo said on Monday during a House of Representatives hearing into job racketeering.

“My going to AMCON was her personal favour to me and others that left FCC at the time,” he said.

Mr Kolo said he former boss turned against him after Ms Dankaka’s sister was refused job at AMCON, which pays higher.

He said the woman was rejected because at 51 she was too old for the position. Since then, he claimed receiving threatening phone calls.

– Millions in bank accounts

Ms Dankaka denied the allegations.

She claimed there was a plan amongst her workers at the commission to “tarnish her image” and swore by the Holy Quran during the hearing.

“I have never asked him to collect money from job seekers for me,” she said.

Yusuf Gagdi, chairman of the House panel, said his committee had evidence Mr Kolo had millions in multiple bank accounts.

“Kolo was serving as a front for collecting money for job recruitments in the commission as against the service’ financial regulation and the extant law,” he said.

“The record I have about your account you don’t even have and the record of your service I have.

“We are not giving any judgment in FCC, we are still investigating. This committee will have to be judicial in nature.

“We knew why we asked Kolo to give us evidence. We must come out straight. We aren’t even talking about racketeering in other MDAs.

“Kolo you are not supposed to leave here without being arrested. As a civil servant, you are not supposed to have such huge amount in your account,” the committee chairman said.