By Muhammad Goronyo, Sokoto
If the law bribery, corruption, influence and abuse of office can take accurate and straight paths, Nigeria can be one, if not the best country in the world, but considering the fact that the trusted personalities who are expected to perform credible achievements turn out to be the ones destabilising the economy of the turn out to be another thing.
It was against this backdrop the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE) has alleged that Alhaji Garba Abubakar, the Registrar General of CAC is grossly abusing his powers in addition to using same to commit financial misappropriation as the head of the agency.
A petition signed acting General Secretary of AUPCTRE, Musa Upko and addressed to the Chiarman, Code of Conduct Tribunal dated 11th January, 2021 alleged amongst others that Alhaji Garba Abubakar has abused his powers by committing financial impropriety, commercialize promotion exams in the CAC and inflated contracts awarded to the Board Chairman as well as inflation of consultancy fees.
The said petition numbered AUP-NS/CCB/Vol.1./02 and addressed to the Chairman, Code of Conduct Tribunal also drew the attention of the Director, Investigation and Monitoring of the Code of Conduct Bureau
Part of this petition read in part, “Staff of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) under the auspices of Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE) have petitioned the National Assembly and the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) and the Presidency over allegations of corruption and victimisation against the Registrar-General, Alhaji Garba Abubakar”.
Continuing in a very pathetic mode, the petition added that, “It has been discovered that the Registrar General of CAC, allegedly used a front company called the Eminent Konsult of Centage Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos, to inflate consultant fees for tax reconciliation on FCT Abuja Payee Tax Liability for 2018 and 2019 at an exorbitant amount of N43,072,046.67 million via PV no. 131817/2595 and PV no. 181818/2596 both dated 13th August, 2020 respectively.
“There is an alleged financial impropriety with regards to the cost fees of training of board members to the tune of N63,769,5000 million. The payments were made to Major Academy Ltd of No. 22, Isyaku Avenue, off Liberia street, Kaduna state in two installments. The first was on the 13th July, 2020 with PV no. 111290/2206 where N31,023,000 million was paid while the other payment was made to same company on the 14th July, 2020 with PV no. 120368/2206 to the tune of N32,746,500 million”.
The union further alleged that the Registrar General of CAC also awarded contract for the procurement of Server DL 560 Gen 108SFF to Descacio Limited in Lagos for over 87 million and another 98 million naira for the procurement of the Company Registration portal (CRP) software and provision of software support and maintenance to Oasis Management Company Ltd in Abuja.
AUPCTRE further alleged that aside awarding a contract of over 2 million naira to Muhal Global Concept Ltd as work tool for the office of the Registrar General, who also derives pleasure in taking unilateral decisions that affect staff welfare hence leading to stagnation, alteration of promotion policies, refusal to pay staff promotion arrears of 2019 despite the availability of funds and budgetary provisions, stoppage of all staff loans schemes, including those of the cooperative societies as well as coercing of staff to forcefully resign their membership of the union and imposing on them the membership of another union of his choice, in addition to carrying out auctions of perceived unserviceable/obsolete vehicles of the CAC without due process hence in breach of the Constitution.
“The promotion examinations for 2019 and 2020 in the commission were commercialized. Vacancies were not declared in Human resources and Finance departments in the appropriation year yet he filled the Vacancies with his favourite against the budgetary provision, thus a breach of the appropriation act”
AUPCTRE in a second petition to Prof Ibrahim Gambari, the Chief of Staff to President Muhàmmadu Buhari dated 5th of March, 2021, the union alleged that the Director General of CAC, Alhaji Garba Abubakar illegally dissolved the union and banned all it’s activities.
The petition titled ” The struggle of AUPCTRE against corrupt practices on public service with a special focus on CAC” was signed by the acting General Secretary, Musa Ukpo where the union once again accused the Registrar General of “illegally dissolving the union executive and banning them from operating and transfer of all executives to different parts of the country to weaken the union”
The Registrar General, it was gathered with documentary evidence that while the nation was under lockdown during the Covid 19 pandemic allegedly siphoned over 30 million naira in grounds that he has organized a training workshop for staff that were working from home then.
The Registrar similarly went ahead to spend another whooping sum of 35 million naira fumigating the agency’s environment because of the Covid-19 pandemic in addition to contracting someone to paint the Zone 5 annex office of CAC for N30,246,979.63 million as well.
