Group petitions ICPC over alleged service elongation by Gidado

Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) and the office of the Head of Service of the Federation, may have begun investigations into alleged falsification of documents and subsequent elongation of service by Sani Gidado, director, Architectural Services, Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing.

The investigation follows a petition submitted to the anti-corruption agency and the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) as well as the Federal Civil Service Commission by the National Anti-Corruption Volunteer Corps (NACVC), an Abuja-based anti-corruption group, alleging that Gidado falsified the date of his first appointment from July 30, 1979 to December 30, 1982, thereby increasing his length of service by three years.

The original petition, which was signed by one Nuhu Adamu, was modified by the anti-corruption volunteer corps that alleged further that efforts by the labour unions in the ministry to compel the ministry’s management to “set the example they have been preaching to the junior staff about honesty, integrity and diligence by taking disciplinary action against Gidado,” have failed to yield positive results.

“Instead, Gidado has been bragging that he could not be touched as he had settled the schedule officers to panel beat his fraud,” the group alleged, adding that the purpose of the petition was to seek ICPC’s intervention in order to discourage persons who may want to falsify their records in a bid to defraud the government.

According to the petitioners, the seniority of Gidado, who transferred his service from the Bauchi State Civil Service, was based on the use of 1979 as the date of his first appointment. Buttressing claims of falsification of documents by the director, the petitioners alleged that  “you will find no single record of the numerous documents hand-filled by Gidado before 2009 (Emolument forms, Aper forms, promotion forms. A.B &C, HOS Manpower Development forms, etc), which everyone completes severally every year.”

Continuing, the petitioners said, “while you will readily find anybody else’s, Gidado with the aid of his collaborators, has methodically removed all his, and you will not find any record of his gazetted first appointment or confirmation as these will place his date of first appointment at 30/7/1979.”

Forwarding the petition to the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, the Federal Civil Service Commission in a letter dated February 16, 2016, stated that in its efforts to find out the truth of the matter, the Commission “stumbled on the Head of Civil Service of the Federation Senior Staff list which confirms the biodata of the officer in question.”

The letter, which was signed on behalf of the chairman of the Commission by R. B. Tinubu, explained that the document would be of assistance in finding out the authenticity or otherwise of the petition.

The anti-graft agency would not comment on the petition because “it does not discuss petitions submitted to it on the pages of the newspaper,” while Gidado, the man in the eye of the storm, did not pick his calls when our correspondent tried to get his comments.