Property Owner Locks FCC Lagos Office Over Unpaid Rent

By Oladipupo Mojeed

The Lagos State Office of the Federal Character Commission (FCC), Ogba, has been locked up by the property-owner over unpaid rent of two years.

The agency’s staff were unable to gain access into the premises to carry out their official functions.

SaharaReporters reported that the commission has not been getting funds needed to run the day-to-day costs of the office since the end of the tenure of former chairman, Alhaji Muhammad Bello Alkali, who died on the 8th of January 2016.

‘Problem Cause’

The problem began when Dr. Shettima Bukar-Abba, on the 11th of January 2016, was appointed as Acting Chairman.

According to some workers, The Acting Chairman, has failed to release any funds for running the office. They added that the same situation exists in the commission’s offices in most parts of the country, excluding the North.

“Dr. Shettima has been used to perpetrate the dirty duties of the President, which is to ridicule the sole aim of federal character by having more Northerners in civil service.

“This is clearly against the federal character principle,” one worker said.

“Since he was appointed, he has not released any funds for us to pay office and utilities bills. This is being done by the Presidency to alter employment to favour the Northern part of the country.

What has become the trend in Nigeria today is that head of major commissions and agencies is channelled to the North and that is why 85% of employment opportunities are sent to the Northern part of the country,” he added.

It was also revealed that the rent in question is N1.2million annually, which is a small part of the N3.3billion the Federal Character commission receives as allocation yearly.

FCC staff are field workers- Ramoni

Adetunji Musulumi Ramoni, the Lagos State Coordinator of FCC however said the office is under lock, and denied any unpaid debt, claiming that the staff of the FCC Lagos office are field workers and don’t stay in the office.

“We are all field workers and do not stay in the office. We go out to work every day. Nobody in FCC Lagos office can say that we are owing rent because they are not the ones that pay for the office rent,”