Thirteen persons allegedly employed by the Federal Character Commission (FCC) in federal government agencies have petitioned the House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating job racketeering over unlawful disengagement.

The 13 petitioners accused the FCC chairwoman, Farida Dankaka, of substituting their names unlawfully.

In the document submitted to the committee, the 13 petitioners asked the committee to redress the ”unjust disengagement.”

The petitioners provided details of the job appointment, including employment reference numbers and date of appointment.

The petitioners are from Benue, Kogi, Edo, Osun, Delta, Ondo, Taraba, and Kwara, among others, as seen in the table attached to the document.

Meanwhile, 11 said to have been unlawfully engaged in the petition were mainly from Kwara, while the two came from Niger and Kogi, respectively.

The petitioners claimed they were legitimately given their letter of appointment on March 30, 2020, adding that this was in addition to obtaining their appointment letter.

They said they were enrolled in the Integrated Payroll and Personal Information System (IPPIS) on June 2020 and were accordingly paid their first salary on July 2020.

According to them, this was after they had complied and satisfied all requirements, adding that the lockdown occasioned by COVID-19 affected all civil servants within grade levels 1-12, and they could not resume.

“Suddenly, to our dismay, our salaries were not paid in August 2020, and when we inquired as to the reasons why our salaries were not paid, we discovered that our names had been unlawfully substituted,” said the petitioners.

They urged the committee to investigate the petition as presented and asked that justice be done to ensure they were restored to their positions.

They also demanded that their arrears be paid and sanctions be meted on the perpetrators.

In her submission at the investigative hearing, the FCC chairwoman had distanced herself from some of the allegations bordering on job racketeering and favouritism, among others.

Ms Dankaka said her attempt to fight corruption in FCC was responsible for the allegations against her, adding that “when you fight corruption, corruption will fight back.”

The ad hoc committee headed by Yusuf Gagdi is probing employment racketeering and gross mismanagement of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) by federal government agencies.

(NAN)