By Abdul Lauya
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has reappointed Dr Muheeba Dankaka as Executive Chairman of the Federal Character Commission (FCC) for another five years, a move that reignites questions about the administration’s anti-corruption resolve.
In a statement on Monday, presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga confirmed the reappointment alongside the naming of Mohammed Musa as commission secretary and the retention of Ogun’s Kayode Oladele, who briefly acted as chairman after Dankaka’s first term ended in 2024.
The President also renewed the appointments of commissioners from Jigawa, Kebbi, and Osun, and approved 31 new state representatives.
Dankaka’s return comes less than two years after a House of Representatives ad-hoc committee, chaired by Hon. Yusuf Gagdi, opened a special investigation into alleged large-scale job racketeering at the FCC.
The probe took a dramatic turn when the committee itself was accused of being compromised through a counter-petition.
The proceedings, once touted as a test of institutional accountability, ended abruptly. No public report was issued. No sanctions followed.
The matter quietly died under the watch of the APC-led government, with key questions unanswered.
Critics point to the irony of reappointing the same Kwara-born FCC chair who was accused of high-handedness and implicated in what many saw as an investigative cover-up.
“This is a reward, not a reprimand,” one civil society advocate told Eye Reporters.
Supporters argue that the reappointment signals continuity and trust in her ability to enforce federal character principles, a constitutional safeguard for equitable representation in federal appointments.
Still, the decision underscores a recurring Nigerian political paradox: a government that publicly vows to fight corruption while politically rehabilitating figures shadowed by unresolved allegations.
With Dankaka now firmly back at the helm, the FCC’s next chapter will likely be shaped as much by her administrative decisions as by the political baggage she carries into the role.
