A coalition of civil society groups under the aegis of Public Assets Accountability Network (PAAN) has commended the federal government for taking steps to sanitise the rot in the internal affairs of the country particularly the Nigerian Correctional Service NCoS.
The coalition specifically hailed the recent sack of the Secretary, Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services Board (CDCFIB), Ahmed Ja’afaru, a former Controller General (CG) of the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS).
The Coalition in a statement by its co-founder, Jason Kolawole and Kabir Usman of Yes Integrity Builds Advocacy Reach Network (YIBARN) on Tuesday in Abuja, said the move deserved commendation and a further probe into the activities of the former scribe of the board.
The coalition which accused Ja’afaru of age falsification while in service, said it was an error on the part of government to have first appointed him CG of Corrections and then proceeding to name him as board secretary after his retirement.
To this end, It said it would in the coming days file a petition before the Code of Conduct Tribunal CCT with relevant documents to get Ja’afaru to return everything he benefitted from government since his days as a CG
It noted: “President Tinubu can correct such mistakes by instituting a probe following the litany of alleged crimes and petition to the presidency over the alleged fraudulent reign of Mallam Ja’afaru Ahmed as the Controller General Nigeria Prisons and later Correctional Service.
“It is on record that the former Controller General of Prisons/Corrections, Ja’afaru Ahmed, falsified his age three times on not less than five occasions within 12 years, between 2002 to 2014 in a bid to rob the Service.
“Sadly, he succeeded and supervised operations in the Service, manipulating the system to his own advantage.
“Available records revealed that in 2022, Ja’afaru claimed his date of birth was 30th/09/1956 when he provided the information on the List of Prisons Officers from the rank of SP, CSP and above.
“While in Sokoto state, this earlier date changed to a year lesser reading 21/07/1957 on the Nigerian Prisons Service Nominal Roll, Sokoto Command in 2008. This date was repeated in 2009, 2010 and 2011.
“However, in 2014 while at the headquarters, the Nigerian Prisons Service Nominal Roll presented a new date reading 21/07/1959. This time the date reduced by three years to the first published name within the service.
“In spite of this curious status of Ja’afaru, he became the CG and got rewarded with board secretary because the system was not thorough enough to unmask this questionable character.
“It is the conviction of the Public Assets Accountability Network (PAAN) that stripping the former CG of the humongous proceeds of crime he has acquired through fraudulent age declarations and occupation of the exalted office at the Nigerian Prisons Service, would be a good practical measure to dissuade people of his ilk.
“In the meantime, we have concluded plans to proceed to the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) for remedial actions, ” it added.