A coalition of Arewa Initiative (AI), Coalition of Youth Against Corruption (COYAC) and Good Governance Initiative (GGI) have descended heavily on agent provocateurs, fifth columnists, disgruntled staff, unregistered NGOs, and mischief makers for peddling falsehood, circulating fake news and writing petitions without facts and empirical evidence; writing ill motivated petitions against the management of the Federal Fire Service (FFS) in order to drag the hard-earned reputation of management into odium and warned agencies to disregard the innuendos orchestrated against the organization and the anti-corruption stance of the ably led management under Engr. Abdulganiyu Jaji.

In a terse press release titled “CONDEMNATION OF FAKE NEWS, URGE ANTI-GRAFT AGENCIES AND SECURITY ORGANIZATIONS TO DISCONTENANCE THE SMEAR CAMPAIGN AND FRIVOLOUS PETITIONS AGAINST THE MANAGEMENT OF FFS” and signed by the Secretary, Arewa Initiative (AI), Com. Mohammed Dantijo, Convener of COYAC, Mahmud Bello and National Coordinator of GGI, Com. Sani Ninjiba Sarki, condemned the clandestine plot, blackmail and malicious petitions to the anti-graft agencies and security organizations with the headings “Nigerian Fire Service, Abdulganiyu, Deputy for N70 Million Job Racketeering, Other Infractions” as wicked and defamatory statement aimed at resolving personal grievances and scores all in a bid to discredit the transparent management of the Federal Fire Service (FFS) and smear its name. The civil societies called on well-meaning Nigerians to disregard and discountenance the fake news and mischievous petitions sent to the antigraft agencies including the public domain as it is the handiwork of mischief makers and condemned it in its entirety, the rumor mill making the rounds about Job racketeering. As the fake news are not only lies from the pit of hell but wicked, mischievous and orchestrated fallacy by fifth columnists and a disgruntled staff who is hell-bent to cast aspersions on the management of FFS.

As champions and propagators of transparency, good governance and accountability in the public service, these malicious ethnic casting of aspersions on the management of the FFS, campaign of calumny, witch-hunt and threatening of the management is not only detrimental to the good governance practices but to the lives and security of management of FFS. The smear campaign presently orchestrated by these disgruntled fifth columnists and hatched jobbers should be disregarded and the said petitions are vindictive, callous, wicked and repugnant to national justice and meant to settle old scores who has an axe to grind and curry cheap blackmail and publicity.

According to our investigations and findings, the issue was brought to the attention of the Controller General when a unit of the Nigerian Police (SARS) brought the staff in question to his office and because it was an already investigation by the police, the CG decided not to conduct any other further investigations on the matter but gave his full support and cooperation to the Nigerian Police to carry out its investigation to its conclusion and wait for its outcome. The staff in question, worked with a deputy – Controller General as his orderly and there was never a time that the CG was involved in any job racketeering whatsoever.

In 2022 respectively, the CG was already a Controller–General of the service and not a deputy Controller General (Admin & Supplies) as reported in the malicious publication in Sahara Reporters. The CG has given consent to the Nigerian Police to do a thorough and swift investigation and other anti-graft agencies as these allegations are libelous and a mischief carried too far by a disgruntled staff that has an axe to grind.

Consequently, the Civil societies maintained that this matter has gone beyond the anti-corruption war but has become highly ethnic aimed at distracting the management. It is a matter of witch-hunting and blackmailing the management insisting that the said staff who is very unhappy, because of the persistent anti-corruption stance of the present CG in calling them to order as a result of consistent indiscipline.

The CSOs called on the anti-graft agencies to ignore the antics of this unpatriotic staff and their cohorts to hoodwink the gullible members of the public and security agencies. Adding that, it should be disregarded as false, mischievous innuendoes and concocted lies hatched by fifth columnists and agent provocateurs. They are ill motivated with the intent to distract and pull down the hard working management of FFS and cause confusion in the organization.

The purveyors of such rumors and petitions are jealous and envious of the present CG’s profile which has continued to rise and the organization have become the cynosure of all eyes and envy due to the anti-corruption stance and transformational re-engineering of Abdulganiyu Jaji’s leadership.

The allegations are not only spurious and concocted blackmail but a fabricated fallacy by disgruntled elements who are out to smear the name of the Federal Fire Service (FFS) into public ridicule and odium and therefore, should be condemned and disregarded by all.

We therefore, pass a vote of confidence on the board and management of FFS for the current institutional capacity building and repositioning that can best be compared with international best practices globally and urge them to remain focused and undeterred in their efforts to rebrand the organization.