Some commissioners of Nigeria’s code of conduct watchdog are at loggerheads with the chairman over allegations of pursuing “phantom” corruption cases.
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Six federal commissioners of the Code of Conduct Bureau, in a petition to President Muhammadu Buhari, through the Secretary of the Government of the Federation, on 29 August 2022, accused the chairman Mohammed Isah of running CCB as a sole administrator and alleged corruption.

The petition dated August 29, 2022, was signed by Dr Emmanuel E. Attah; Professor Samuel F. Ogundare; Ehiozuwa J. Agbonayinma; Dr Olayinka Balogun, CP, Retd and Barrister Ben Umeano.

In the petition, equally, the commissioners said that the allowances and impresses due to staff were not paid, also alleging that the cooperative money of the staff amounting to over N60 million could not be accounted for by the chairman.

They also alleged he bypassed the members against the approved organogram of the Bureau, asking Buhari to, as a matter of urgency, intervene in the matter to save the Bureau from total collapse.
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They equally alleged that high-profile cases brought before the Bureau were suppressed by the chairman.

But insiders claimed that they are neither sympathetic to Prof. Isah nor the aggrieved commissioners, noting that most of the issues raised by the commissioners are “unfounded,” PRNigeria reported.

One of the insiders, who declined to give his name, ‘tacitly’ concluded that the CCB Commissioners who signed the petition, appear to have ‘scores to settle with their Chairman, hence accusing Prof. Isah of committing acts against the service.

He said there has never been a point when the Chairman behaved as if he was the sole administrator of CCB.

“That Prof. Isah is transferring staff of the Bureau without recourse to the Board members is absolutely okay. Internal postings do not require their input.

“As board members, they are only mandated to deliberate on issues that have to do with Appointments, Promotions and Discipline of staff. They have nothing to do with internal postings.”
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The source disclosed that one of the issues the federal commissioners have with the CCB Chairman is that of a Special Adviser (to Prof. Isah) brought from the Central Bank of Nigeria, who is handling petitions for the Bureau.

He said: “But the thing is he was only deployed to the Bureau by the CBN Governor, just as we have a staff of the Department of State Services, DSS, and Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, among others from other MDA working at CCB.

“None of the presidential aides working with President Muhammadu Buhari was a staff of the State House before his or her appointment. Besides, all the Federal Commissioners of the Bureau are entitled to having Special Assistants and Personal Assistants, and they all have SAs and PAs that are from the outside, not workers of CCB.

“Let me also add that the SA of the Chairman they are complaining is handling petitions is one that is a seasoned lawyer, and an academic with a rich background in forensic and financial monitoring that can benefit institutions like the CCB.”
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On the N60 million allegedly diverted by the Chairman as claimed by the board members, PRNigeria gathered from another staff of the Bureau (who pleaded for anonymity) that the ‘disappearance’ of the money happened long before Prof. Isah became their Chairman.

He said: “Sometime around 2017, before Prof. Isah’s appointment, there were issues with remittances of the cooperative money. From that moment, there was a crisis of leadership.

“After the incumbent Chairman took over, he learnt about it, and truly discovered that the cooperative money was not siphoned by the former Board.

“Hence, he graciously approved for the repayments in about six instalments. So, it was expected that the executives of the cooperative would follow up with the approval, but they didn’t do that.

“And on his part, Prof. Isah did not even remember the issue again until some of the cooperative members recently complained about embezzlement of their money.
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“And swiftly, the Chairman constituted a Committee to verify and ensure that the cooperative members are paid their money.

“Not only that, he also directed that a new election should be conducted to replace the present excos of the cooperative, whose tenure has since elapsed”.

A female staffer at the CCB, while maintaining that though there is a need to thoroughly probe the corruption allegations levelled against Prof. Isah, said the Commissioners who drafted and signed the petition committed the criminal offence of forgery and impersonation.

According to her, one of the petitioners, a retired Police Commissioner, had expressed his dismay that his phone number and a forged signature were included among those who signed the petition.

“The retired CP, as a Board Member, opted out from signing the petition after discovering that most of the issues raised in the petition could not be substantiated.

“Yet, his signature was forged, and his phone number added to their petition. This is a clear case of impersonation and forgery, which is criminal,” the female staff said.
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