Re: FCC chairman in alleged certificate forgery

When the Senate confirmed Dr. Muheeba Dankaka as the chairman of the Federal Character Commission (FCC), it ushered in a new era at the commission.

Having been part of a 38-man list submitted by President Muhammadu Buhari for appointment into the commission, Dr. Dankaka, a native of Offa in Kwara state, was confirmed as the chairman of the commission on merit.

 The circumstances sourrounding the appointment of the second principal officer of the commission raised some eyebrows as Mohammed Tukur Bello hails from Taraba state, also from the North.This was perceived by some cynics to be a non-application of the federal character principle enshrined in the 1999 constitution.

Firstly, six months into her appointment as the chairperson of the commission, her leadership was applauded to have recorded great success which was perceived to have unsettled many of her detractors. Notable among her achievements as of that time is the centralisation of the administrative structure of the monitoring and enforcements department.

The improvement she brought to the commission was already giving the advocates of merits over sentiments some levels of justifications.

Secondly, the excitement and the achievements so far recorded by the chairman, Dr.Mueeba Dankaka, appear to be unsettling some who are not happy with such giant strides; some commissioners within the commission petitioned the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offence Commission (ICPC), this time around, accusing the chairman of the offences relating to abuse of office.

It should be noted that prior to her appointment to head the FCC, Dankaka was the immediate past president of the Kaduna Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (KADCIMA), an endeavour she undertook meritoriously. Dankaka was far from controversy when she was the head of affairs at KADCIMA.This got many wondering as to what could have happened to a trusted entrepreneur who got a national award for her contributions to the the development of the national economy while outside the government employment.

She was confered with the Order of the Niger (OON) by President Buhari for her contributions to the Nigerian economy, as an entrepreuneur par excellence.

A response by the FCC boss at that time which was later proved right suggests there was personal motives and clash of interest between her and the petitioners who are out just to tarnish her image and the credibility of the leadership of the commission for personal gains.They want business as usual which was not possible under her watch.

The petitioners, who as earlier stated, are commissioners in the commission then have accused the chairman of infractions such as granting of waivers to advertise to MDAs and shunning the federal character principle in job allocations.

She was also accused of acting alone without recourse to fellow commissioners. After investigations by relevant agencies, the petition hollow and it therefore failed.From findings, the petitioners appear to be using new tactics to stage a media war of calumny against the chairman.

Today, the same masters of calumny against the FCC boss are at it again. They are unrelenting even when they know their antics would take them no where. The trending issue is the use of the mass media to dessiminate falsehood by alleging that the FCC chairman was involved in a certificate forgery case.

It would have been advisable to ignore the petitioners entirely by not attaching any importance to this brazen falsehood but it’s necessary to clear the air once and for all.

There are basically six things the petitioners need to know about Dr. Mueeba Dankaka.

Educationally, she is a graduate of the Kaduna Polytechnic and Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna state. She is from Offa, Kwara state, Nigerra.

She is a Kaduna based successful business woman who before her appointment as the FCC boss was into construction and consumer product development. 

Her past leadership role includes her headship of the Farida Ventures Limited where she served as CEO and was the immediate past president of KADCIMA.

(She was a member of the Governor Abdul-Razak APC transition committee in 2019. She has many awards and honours including the prestigious OON, rer people conferred on her the title of the ERELU of Offa.

Today, the furore over certificate is nothing but the height of the act of desperation from envious and greedy merchants of evil campaign of calumny against a good woman who is committed to the development of Nigeria.

Her maiden name should never be an issue because she is simply Farida Muheeba Dankaka – all names she got from her parents.

It is advisable that this ugly campaign of calumny targeted to stop her from achieving the mandate given to her by Mr President stop forthwith. She is delivering on her mandate and we should support the president by supporting her.

Wada writes from Abuja.