Musa Yusuf Ahmed, an officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), has demanded a comprehensive investigation into the tenure of the agency's former Chairman, Col. Muhammad Mustapha Abdallah.

Ahmed revealed that Abdallah contributed in rolling back the wheel of progress in the anti-drug Agency.

He alleged that the former chairman uses his office to perpetrate several misconducts such as; age falsification and transfer of Service manipulation by top ranking officers, stagnation of officers career progression amidst monumental corruption and misappropriation of funds. 

Ahmed alleged that Col. Abdallah vehemently disobeyed the directive of the Attorney General and Honourable Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN) to suspend the planned recruitment exercise slated for last week in Abuja.

It would be recalled that the chairman em­barked on a massive recruit­ment, barely 24 hours after he got a letter to handover to Shadrach Haruna, the NDLEA Secretary.

The NDLEA officer accused the director of Training, Mrs. Chinyere Obijuru, the director of Administration and Finance, Mr. Epeso E. Ngale and the director of Prosecution, Mr. Joseph Nbona Sunday of flouting the Attorney General's because of commitment and loyalty to Abdallah.

In a petition by Musa Yusuf Ahmed, he listed some of the misconducts perpetrated by Col. Abdallah and demanded that an investigation be carried out into each of them. They are;

 INVESTIGATION OF AGE FALSIFICATION* 

A massive age falsification fraud and transfer of Service manipulation by some very top ranking officers was discovered in the Agency. While the age fraud was allegedly perpetrated during the Federal Government shift to the Integrated Personnel Payroll Integration System (IPPIS); the transfer of Service manipulation was done at the point of entry. The scandal was blown open by a petition to the President. Consequently, Abdallah was directed by the Presidency to act accordingly. Unfortunately because the former director of Administration and Finance, Mr. Yohanna-Sila Mshelia was involved with other directors, Abdallah could not carry out a comprehensive and non biased investigation. Yohanna-Sila was employed on August 21, 1998 with a bachelor of law degree (LLB) on grade level 14. This was how most of the directors were unduly elevated contrary to the Civil Service regulations.

Abdallah corruptly covered up for most of the directors affected in this scandal. In a display of selective justice, Abdallah only asked Dr. Opara Lawrence and Bala Fage to go on retirement. There are many top ranking Officers that manipulated their age as well as entry procedures under the guise of transfer of Service that ought to have retired but are still in Service. All such individuals must be shown the way out of the Agency.

 FAULTY RECRUITMENT* 

Concerned Officers of the Agency gathered that the inconclusive recruitment by Abdallah did not follow the minimum selection standard in the Agency. Also, the process contravains the principles of federal character. Usually a committee is constituted by drawing Officers from Administration, Personnel and Training. However, Abdallah completely allowed such a sensitive process to be handled by Em-Plug ICT firm. This is sad and unfortunate as requirements like age, height, certificate and medical fitness were compromised.

 NON PARTICIPATION IN NIPSS

The Agency has been sending officers to the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) in Jos, Plateau State. However, under Abdallah, the Agency lost its slots and the aspirations of officers becoming fellows of the Institute with their colleagues in the military and paramilitary organizations was dashed by Abdallah's refusal to pay the required course fees.

 NON PAYMENT OF MONTHLY ALLOWANCE 

Abdallah stopped the payment of monthly running cost to commanders since 2016. His hobby is to collect foreign travel allowances even if there is no justification for the trip. When he could no longer travel out of the country due to the Covid 19 pandemic, he started collecting money under the guise of local travels that never took place on monthly basis. An estimated 2.8 billion naira monthly allocation to the Agency is said to have been misappropriated by Abdallah during his tenure.

 POOR STAFF WELFARE

Officers are in deep pain, frustration and disenchantment over their career stagnation. How do you expect an officer with three promotion arrears to be committed to the job? The NDLEA officer is one of the least paid among paramilitary personnel in the country. There are no allowances to justify the hazards of the job. When officers are attacked or die on the line of duty, it is Officers that contribute from their meagre salaries in support of such colleagues. 

The most recent case is the Hung attack in October 2020 where an officer Samuel Abba was burnt to death and Tope Omopu was left in a critical state. Abdallah did nothing to the family of the dead and Tope Omopu that is still battling for survival at the hospital. We are psychologically tortured daily by the economic hardship confronting officers. 

Even when the Edo State Command headquarters in Benin City, Orlu in Imo and Nnewi in Anambra were destroyed during the End-SARS protest in October, 2020, Abdallah never visited the affected commands.

 SALE OF CHAIRMAN'S HOUSE

Abdallah sold the official quarters for the Chairman at George Street Ikoyi, Lagos. He also sold part of the Shaw Road, Ikoyi Lagos premises of the Agency. This is a man who never acquired a property for the Agency yet he had the audacity to sell what he met. Major General Musa Baimayi of blessed memory that is credited with acquiring property for the Agency across the country never sold one. 

 NON FUNDING OF OPERATIONS

Abdallah never released money for the funding of operational activities. This has denied the Agency of spectacular seizures leading to the dismantling of drug trafficking cartels. Concerned Officers discovered that Abdallah only directed the payment of operational cost last week and backdated it for the month of December 2020. What happened to the monthly allowances since 2016?

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