Job racketeering: Reps panel to issue arrest warrant against AMCON worker
The House of Representatives ad hoc committee probing employment racketeering in Federal Government’s agencies yesterday resolved to issue a warrant of arrest on a staff member of the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON), Haruna Kolo.
Kolo, said to be a former worker of the Federal Character Commission (FCC), had appeared before the ad hoc committee on Monday.
He owned up to involvement in selling job slots in alleged connivance with the commission’s Chairman Muheeba Dankaka.
The witness also said he collected money for job placement in the agency on behalf of its chairman.
Kolo expressed fear for his safety, saying the FCC chairman should be held responsible if anything happened to him.
But he has failed to honour the invitation of the House committee to appear in subsequent hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Also, AMCON failed to turn up for the probe, despite the committee’s invitations to its leadership.
At yesterday’s resumed hearing, the committee’s Chairman Yusuf Gagdi said a warrant of arrest would be issued against Kolo.
He said if Kolo does not show up for the probe, he would be brought in by security agencies.
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The committee chairman frowned at government agencies for avoiding the probe.
Gagdi said there would be sanctions henceforth against any agency that fails to honour the committee’s invitation.
He said: “We have made our position very clear and we have resolved to further communicate through newspaper communications today and tomorrow for these agencies to make sure they have cause appearance before this committee.
“We are going to make our position very public in various dailies and television stations beginning from tomorrow, giving agencies the last warning that they should appear before this committee unfailingly from Monday to Friday.
“All our witnesses that we have equally asked to be here are going to appear before us on Monday and Tuesday in continuation to this hearing.
“Yesterday, we asked Haruna Kolo to be here and some other personalities. Are they here? They are not. I think agencies would begin to see the other side of this committee as from Monday, by the special grace of God. We are going to rewrite, we are going to make newspaper publications.
“We are going to make television announcements so that we can see if they do not watch TV or they do not read newspapers, if they claim that letters from this committee have not reached them. We should do just that and give them the benefit of the doubt.
“We are people’s representatives. So, we would not be in a hurry to take any decision. For Haruna Kolo, the position of this committee is that he would lose his freedom. We will issue a warrant of arrest in respect of Haruna Kolo and compel security agencies to present him before this committee at any given period, if he is so arrested.
“So, this committee would communicate officially to the various security agencies and to AMCON, in addition to the communication that we sent to them yesterday for Haruna Kolo to be presented here unfailingly by either the security agencies or by AMCON themselves.”
The committee adjourned till Monday. Nation
