President Bola Tinubu has removed Muheeba Dankaka from her position as executive chairman of the Federal Character Commission (FCC), just hours after the presidency announced her reappointment for a second five-year term.
Earlier on Monday, Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu’s special adviser on information and strategy, had confirmed Dankaka’s reappointment in a statement. The president had also named Mohammed Musa as the commission’s secretary and retained Kayode Oladele from Ogun as commissioner.
However, in a subsequent statement issued shortly after, the presidency announced that Ayo Omidiran, a former member of the house of representatives, would take over from Dankaka as FCC chairperson.
“Omidiran succeeds Dr Muheeba Dankaka, whose tenure was dogged by controversy,” the statement reads.
The president maintained Musa as the commission’s secretary and retained Oladele as commissioner. Oladele, a former house of representatives member, had been appointed by Tinubu in 2024 and served as the commission’s acting chairman.
Tinubu also renewed the appointments of Lawal Ya’u Roni, Abubakar Atiku Bunu, and Eludayo Eluyemi, representing Jigawa, Kebbi, and Osun states respectively. Abdulwasiu Kayode Bawalla was reappointed as the commissioner from Lagos state.
In July 2023, several FCC commissioners accused Dankaka of high-handedness and job racketeering.
The allegations surfaced when the commissioners appeared before the house of representatives ad hoc committee set up to investigate ministries, departments, agencies (MDAs), parastatals, and tertiary institutions over recruitment, employment racketeering, and mismanagement of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).
They alleged that Dankaka was running the commission in gross violation of the FCC enabling act — an accusation she denied.