Barely five months after its inauguration by President Muhammadu Buhari, the Federal Character Commission (FCC) is already in big crisis, as some of the Commissioners representing the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (Abuja) at the Commission have drawn battle line between the Chairman, Dr. Muheeba Farida Dankaka, over what they described as “abuse of power, disregard to constitutional provisions and extant laws and high headedness” in running the affairs of the commission.
The commissioners also accused the Chairman of “the Sinister Misinterpretation and Misapplication of section 2(1) of the establishment Act as well as unwholesome arrogation of power to self, thereby alienating the commissioners, plenary and commission from the activities and operation/administration of the commission,” as well as abuse of the commission’s annual budget process, and failure to render financial transaction to the plenary, which according to them was in variance with the financial rules and regulation of the commission and public service Established Rules and Regulations.
In the 14 pages memo with reference number FCC/CF/HQ/2020/001, dated November 18, 2020 and captioned “The State of the Commission”, which was obtained by Blueprint, the Commissioners also accused the Chairman of “obvious inconsistencies in assigning or allocating Miniseries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to various committees,” as they “observed that the process is shrouded in unnecessary secrecy, characterized by avoidable irregularities, thereby giving room for suspicious and misgivings, mistrust and widespread confusion.”
