The Federal Character Commission has said that former Nigerian Senate President, Adolphus Wabara was denied job placement because the request was not within its mandate.
This statement comes in response to Wabara’s recent claims that the FCC refused job placements for individuals in his constituency because he refused to pay bribes.
The former lawmaker had alleged that efforts to secure employment for his people were thwarted by some persons in the FCC over his refusal to “drop any money.”
“You won’t believe that up till now nothing has been done for the simple reason that I have not dropped any money and that they cannot even ask me to drop money,” he alleged.
However, reacting to Wabara’s claims, the Spokesperson of FCC, Dr Chuks Okoli clarified that the FCC Executive Chairman, Dr Muheeba Dankaka, in March 2023, had told Wabara during his visit that the commission was not functioning as a recruitment agency.
The Commission challenged Wabara to prove his claims, urging the public to disregard his claims of a “bribe for FCC job slot,” stating that the Executive Chairman had maintained a strict adherence to the principles of Federal Character in the recruitment since taking office.
“For this weighty allegation, it will be appreciated if His Excellency, the former Senate President can mention the name(s) of the person(s) that asked him to pay a bribe to enable him to secure FCC job slots for his children and grandchildren or substantiate his allegation.
“The general public is hereby asked and encouraged to disregard this unsubstantiated allegation of ‘bribe for FCC Job slot’ made by former distinguished Senator Adolphus Wabara.
“The Executive Chairman, since she assumed office, has been very strict in the application of Federal Character principle in staff recruitment by the MDAs.”