Reactions have continued to trail the alleged involvement of the Executive Chairman, Federal Character Commission (FCC), Dr. Muheeba Farida Dankaka, in a certificate forgery scandal, leading to her invitation and grilling for over five hours by the Nigeria Police Force CID last week.
The media last week recorded how Dankaka was grilled by the police over her alleged certificate forgery and presentation of false information to get appointed as chairman of the commission.
Following the media backlash with Dankaka’s denials of parading forged certificates, a government advocate that styles itself as Justice and Equity in Nigeria Leadership (JENL) has called on the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration to suspend Dankaka pending the completion of the ongoing police investigation.
In a statement jointly signed by its National Convener, Chief Adegoke Ojo, and the Spokesman, Comrade Ebubu Ukah, JENL noted that the FCC is a very critical commission with a huge responsibility, hence cannot be left in the hands of a chairman whose true identity and certificates have become controversial and uncertain.
“We wish to call on President Bola Ahmad Tinubu to rise again to the occasion and suspend the Executive Chairman, Federal Character Commission, Dr. Muheeba Farida Dankaka, who has been embroiled in a certificate forgery scandal and presentation of false information to the Presidency and the Senate to get appointed.
“Sir, we are making this call considering the critical role the Federal Character Commission plays in stabilizing our democracy. Having someone with identity and certificate scandal hanging on her head will bring the commission and its works into disrepute, hence there is a need for her to step aside until the police clear her of these weighty allegations.
“We also call on the authority of the Nigeria Police to, as a matter of urgency, expedite action on the ongoing investigation and make public their findings on the true identity and certificates of Muheeba Farida Dankaka.
“We are concerned that the noticeable discrepancies in Dankaka’s names in her Primary School Leaving Certificate, WASC, first degree, NYSC and master’s degree certificates can’t be mere ‘errors’ of spelling or abbreviations as her spin doctors want us to believe.”
The statement added: “We are convinced that there is more to it than meets the eye. We therefore call on Mr. President to show leadership as he displayed recently, not to tolerate corruption in the pursuit of his Renewed Hope Agenda by suspending the embattled Dankaka, and ordering a full-scale investigation into the certificate forgery scandal and other malfeasance rocking the commission.”
The civil society organisation, Youth and Leadership Initiatives, had petitioned the Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Force Criminal Investigation Department, Garki, Abuja, in May 2023, alleging that Dankaka presented false information to the Presidency and the National Assembly to secure the chairmanship of the commission.
Following the petition and public outcry generated by the discrepancies in the names on her different certificates, the police in a letter with reference number 3000/X/FHQ/ABJ/PSFU/BIFF/VOL.51/014, dated January 8, 2024 and signed by DCP Tahir Usman P, 3p Deputy Commissioner of Police for Commissioner of Police (PSFU), Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), invited Dankaka for questioning.
A police source added that Dankaka was grilled at the police office last week from noon till after 5pm and was asked to report back on January 17 (today) with original certificates. When asked to put down her statement in writing, “she couldn’t write a sentence as a statement and had to rely on her lawyer to write her statement to the police. Her failure to write the statement herself may further confirm that the certificates being paraded may have been forged.”
Corroborating this, a staff of FCC who pleaded anonymity, said: “I worked closely with madam Dankaka for sometime; the truth is that she cannot construct or write a sentence in English, hence she engages a consultant to do most of her jobs, even those that can be done by the commission’s staff, because she doesn’t want staff to know that she can’t write.”
Another police source said on condition of anonymity that the Office of the Registrar, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, following a letter from the police authority to confirm the master’s degree she paraded, has denounced the certificate.
The varsity replied: “I wish to inform you that the available records in the university revealed that the photocopy of the certificate attached to your letter didn’t emanate from this university.”
Part of the petition by Youth and Leadership Initiatives to the police read: “We are a non-profit organisation focusing on leadership and public accountability in Nigeria. It’s upon these objectives we are writing your office to inform you of the noticeable falsification of the certificate, identity falsification and presentation of false information on oath against Dankaka, on which her appointment was made and confirmed by Mr. President and the Senate.
That Dankaka presented several documents that are inconsistent with each other. These are as follows: “Dr.” Muheeba (Farida) Dankaka refers to herself as ‘Dr.’ when in fact she holds no Ph.D. degree in any recognised university. The acclaimed Honorary Doctor of Philosophy that she holds was issued by an institution that is not recognised and or accredited by the National Universities Commission.
“National Universities Commission had declared Pacific Western University. Denver, Colorado, USA, Owerri study campus illegal and thereby shut it down. Meanwhile, Dr. Muheeba Farida Dankaka was issued the certificate in 2007 and her name appears as MUHEEBA H. DANKAKA. This name is also at variance with the present name she bears, ‘Dr. Muheeba Farida Dankaka.
“On the face of the master’s degree certificate copy attached to her curriculum vitae, her name is Muiba Nike Salau. This name is at variance with the present name she bears ‘Dr. Muheeba Farida Dankaka. While her marriage name, Dankaka, substituted for Salau or Salawu, the name Nike is not on any of the appointment documents.
“On the face of the first-degree certificate dated August 1986, her name is Muibat Adenike Salawu. This is also at variance with the name she claimed to bear and supplied to the Presidency and the Senate during screening and the name with which she officially signs all documents. Conversely, her name on the NYSC discharge certificate which reads Salau, Muibat Nike is also at variance with the name on the first degree certificate which reads Muibat Adenike Salawu.
“On the face of the West African Examinations Council School Certificate obtained in 1978, her name is ‘Salawu Muibat Adenike’. This is also at variance with the name she claimed to bear and supplied to the Presidency and the Senate during screening and the name with which she officially signs all documents.”
