The Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees, AUPCTRE, has petitioned the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, against the Registrar General of Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, Garba Abubakar on allegation of financial misappropriation and gross abuse of powers.
The petition dated January 11 2021, signed by its acting General Secretary, Musa Upko and addressed to the Chairman of the Tribunal, the Union alleged that Abubakar has abused his powers by committing financial impropriety, commercialized promotion exams in the CAC, inflated contracts awarded to the Board Chairman as well as inflation of consultancy fees.
Marked AUP-NS/CCB/Vol.1./02, the petition reads 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.
“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 alleged.
According to petition, the Registrar also awarded contract for the procurement of Server DL 560 Gen 108SFF to Descacio Limited in Lagos for over N87 million and another N98 million 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 he awarded a contract of over N2 million to Muhal Global Concept Ltd as work tool for the office of the Registrar General.
The union in the petition further states that Abubakar’s unilateral decisions had grossly affected staff welfare, alternated promotion policies and has refused to pay staff promotion arrears of 2019 in spite of the availability of funds and budgetary provisions.
AUPCTRE alleged that the The Registrar had stopped all staff loans schemes, including those of the cooperative societies as well as coercing staff to forcefully resign their membership of the union and imposing on them the membership of another union of his choice.
“He has also, in breach of laid down procedures, carried out auctions of perceived unserviceable/obsolete vehicles of the CAC without due process.
“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 candidates against the budgetary provision, thus a breach of the appropriation act.”
AUPCTRE, in its second petition to Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, the Chief of Staff to President Muhàmmadu Buhari dated 5th of March, 2021, alleged that Abubakar illegally dissolved the union and banned all its activities.
Titled: “The struggle of AUPCTRE against corrupt practices on public service with a special focus on CAC”, the union in the petition, signed by the acting General Secretary, Musa Ukpo accused the Registrar General of “illegally dissolving the union executive officers and banned them from operating as well as transfered them to different parts of the country in order to weaken the union.”
The union further alleged that the Registrar General, during the COVID-19 lockdown lockdown, siphoned over N30 million for purportedly organizing a training workshop for staff that were working from home.
The petition added that the Registrar spent another N35 million to fumigate the agency’s premises against COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to contracting someone to paint the Zone 5 annex office of CAC for N30,246,979.63 million.
