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The probe stems from a petition by a whistleblower, Martins Oghenerhoro Richard Atijegbe, who alleged that top officials in the Ministry of Works have been selling federal jobs to desperate Nigerians for as much as N2.5 million.
The Minister of Works, David Umahi, and top officials from his ministry failed to appear before the House of Representatives Committee on Public Petitions on Tuesday to respond to allegations of widespread job racketeering and abuse of office.
Their absence angered committee members and forced the adjournment of the public hearing to May 29, 2025.
No official explanation was provided for their absence. However, a source familiar with the proceedings told SaharaReporters that a committee member described the failure of the Minister and his team to appear, without offering any justification, as “administrative rascality.”
Their non-appearance prompted the committee to abruptly end the session.
The probe stems from a petition by a whistleblower, Martins Oghenerhoro Richard Atijegbe, who alleged that top officials in the Ministry of Works have been selling federal jobs to desperate Nigerians for as much as N2.5 million.
Martins, a staff member in the ministry’s Human Resource Management Department, exposed how unqualified individuals were smuggled into the civil service using forged employment letters and were enrolled into the federal payroll system, IPPIS, within weeks.
“My petition to both chambers of the National Assembly has to do with employment racketeering involving the Minister of Works,” Martins said in a statement made available to SaharaReporters.
According to him, directors in the ministry were the masterminds behind the operation, exploiting their access to sell federal jobs and bypass proper recruitment procedures.
“It is our director who collected the sum of N2.5 million from people, like selling a job to them, and within a month, he would issue fake documents and enrol them into IPPIS,” Martins stated.
He revealed that his attempt to expose the rot has turned him into a target for persecution.
“I discovered it and made it public, and I am being persecuted for doing so. I am on the verge of losing my job,” he lamented.
The petition, filed by his lawyer, Liberty Semper Fidelis, accuses the Federal Ministry of Works of fraud, abuse of power, conspiracy, and attempts to cover up, among other offences.
The Ministry has consistently denied any wrongdoing, describing the allegations as “incredibly fictitious.”
Despite the gravity of the accusations and the formal summons issued to both parties, only the petitioner and his legal team were present at Tuesday’s hearing.
The House Committee had earlier warned that the matter could be determined in the absence of the parties if they failed to honour the summons.
Barr. Orji Uchenna Orji, the Minister’s Special Adviser on Media, explained why her principal and others did not appear before the House of Representatives regarding the allegations of racketeering.
She stated, “This didn’t happen under my boss’s leadership, so there’s no issue. Let him select a TV station and invite me. How can a rational person connect an event from 2019 to someone who took office in 2023?”
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