Workers of the Federal Character Commission (FCC) have staged a protest against the Executive Chairman of the Commission, Dr Muheeba Dankaka, accusing her of abuse of office.
During the protest at the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja on Thursday, the FCC workers called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to intervene.
The protesting workers, under the umbrella of the Joint Negotiating Council—which comprises the Nigeria Civil Service Union (NCSU), the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), and the Nigeria Union of Public Service Reportorial, Secretarial, Data Processors, and Allied Workers (NUPSRAW)—demanded urgent government action to address what they described as years of high-handedness and mismanagement under Dankaka’s leadership.
One of the major grievances echoed by some of the protesters who spoke to journalists during the protest was the alleged illegal stoppage of salaries of 20 staff members without due process.
The workers, carrying placards with inscriptions such as: ‘Dankaka must go,’ ‘Enough is Enough,’ ‘Nigeria is for Everyone’ and ‘No to Sole Administrator in FCC,’ among others, also accused the chairman of suspending the pay of staff on approved study leave and failing to settle retirement and repatriation benefits of some retired and deceased employees.
Their protest followed a petition earlier sent to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), in which the union leaders accused Dankaka of reducing the Commission to what they called “a private enterprise” since assuming office in July 2020.
“It may interest you to know that the staff and all stakeholders of the Commission have endured the excesses of Dr. Dankaka since she assumed office on 2nd July, 2020. She has deviated from all normal ways of running public office and turned Federal Character Commission to her private enterprise with no recourse to administrative procedures and extant laws guiding establishments like Federal Character Commission.
“It is on record that all through her 5 years of leadership it was all fighting with Members (Commissioners) of the Governing Board of the Commission who are the policy making body of the Commission, “ the petition read in part.
In the petition jointly signed by Comrade Benson Agbo Ameh (Chairman, NCSU), Comrade Gidi Fanimokun Uche (Chairman, ASCSN), and Comrade Franca Akpehwo (Acting Chairman, NUPSRAW), the union alleged that the chairman’s conduct has left the Commission comatose, citing a range of actions including indiscriminate appointments, disregard for promotion procedures, and multiple confrontations with the Commission’s Governing Board.
“It is also common knowledge that all through her tenure it has been one case or the other with the EFCC, ICPC and the National Assembly, which is why the Commission has not formulated any meaningful policy in the last 5 years. This woman has deliberately made both the staff at the Head Office and State Offices redundant, using only her cronies to carry out assignments that are only beneficial to her.
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“Her high handedness has made all the staff to be withdrawn and live in perpetual fear because severally police will just appear at the Commission premises and begin to harass staff without any reason(s) whatsoever and any form of complain or opposition will either be meted with posting to State Office or threat of sack or dismissal of service. Sir, it will not be an exaggeration if one will conclude that the Commission has gone comatose.”
They also alleged that the chairman retrieved over 22 official vehicles for personal use, failed to pay electricity bills leading to regular disconnection of power supply, and ignored basic staff welfare by refusing to provide office materials and maintain sanitary conditions.
According to the petition, staff training has been suspended since 2020, while the chairman allegedly runs the Commission using a few loyalists, sidelining other qualified staff.
The union also claimed that Dankaka resisted a directive from the SGF’s office regarding the role of the Acting Secretary to the Commission.
The petition also alleged that Dankaka is lobbying for reappointment despite nearing the end of her five-year tenure, and claimed the chairman had allegedly boasted about paying N500 million to political figures to secure her return.
The union leaders urged the government to launch a comprehensive investigation into the finances and administrative decisions of the Commission from 2020 to date, insisting that only a thorough probe would reveal the extent of the alleged abuse.
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