The Senate/SSS screenings are compulsory checks before a nominated public officer assumes office, but Nigerians have argued that they are a waste of taxpayers’ funds.

How did a man who was vociferous in his support for terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda and Taliban and who considered Osama bin Laden “a better Muslim than myself” scale the screenings of Nigerian lawmakers and the country’s State Security Service (SSS) to become a public officer?

First as the Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency and later the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy?

Ali Isa Pantami, 48, has been in the eye of the storm since last week after videos of his preachings about 20 years ago surfaced online.

The trigger was a publication by a local newspaper that Mr Pantami had been placed on the U.S. watch list for terrorism. The article was later retracted but the damage had been done.

First, a recording of him volunteering to command a militia to fight against Christians in a Plateau community went viral online; then reports that he offered public condolences to the notorious Al-Qaeda leader, Abu Musa’b al-Zarqawi; and yet another claim that Mr Pantami was the Chief Imam of a Nigerian university when a fatwa was issued on some Christian students on campus, leading to the eventual killing of one of them. Mr Pantami said his sermons were taken out of context.

However, he said he has amended some of his past views, but calls for his resignation have continued to gain traction.

During Mr Pantami’s screening in the Senate on July 26, 2019, seven senators ‘grilled’ him after his introductory speech: none of them queried his Islamist antecedents.

And, if those concerns were raised by the SSS (who are mandated to vet appointees to top government positions), there was nothing in the screening to show it on the floor of the senate. After nearly an hour of speeches, questionings, and banters, he was asked to “take a bow and go.”

The Senate/SSS screenings are compulsory checks before a nominated public officer assumes office.

For years, Nigerians have argued that they are a waste of taxpayers’ funds. Below are some of the public officers who, though with questionable pasts, successfully scaled the Senate and SSS screenings:

Peter Afunanya, the SSS spokesperson, did not respond to requests for comments.

1) Kemi Adeosun: Mrs Adeosun had served as a commissioner for four years and a federal minister for three years before her cover was blown.

A PREMIUM TIMES’ exclusive report in July 2018 uncovered how she did not participate in the mandatory one-year national service. Instead, she forged an exemption certificate several years after she had graduated.

Like Pantami, former Minister of Finance, Kemi
For nearly two months, Mrs Adeosun ignored calls for her resignation. Without lifting his finger to address the issue, President Buhari embarked on his annual vacation more than three weeks after the lid was blown open on the minister.

In the president’s defence, information minister Lai Mohammed said appropriate agencies were still investigating the matter.

But on September 15, 2018, Mrs Adeosun resigned from office. In her letter of resignation, she said she had no reason to suspect that her certificate was forged.

“Indeed, I presented that certificate at the 2011 Ogun State House of Assembly and in 2015 for Directorate of State Services (DSS) clearance as well as to the National Assembly for screening.”

2) Stella Oduah: Barely three months after Stella Oduah, who was serving as Aviation Minister, was found to have been enmeshed in a N255 million armoured cars scandal, it was found, in January 2014, that she forged the certificates she presented to the Senate during her screening.

Mrs Oduah had claimed, in a seven-page resume that she distributed to the senators, that she was awarded a doctorate degree by the Pacific Christian University, Glendale, in the United States.

PREMIUM TIMES found that the university does not exist.

Mrs Oduah also falsely claimed on the website of the Ministry of Aviation that she bagged a Masters degree from St Paul College, Lawrenceville, Virginia, U.S. It was discovered that the institution never awarded her the degree as it does not run graduate programmes.

On February 12, 2014, President Goodluck Jonathan fired Mrs Oduah from his cabinet.

3) Adebayo Shittu: Days after finance minister Kemi Adeosun resigned her position over the NYSC certificate forgery scandal, Adebayo Shittu, the Minister of Communications, was found to have skipped the mandatory one year scheme.

Mr Shittu, 68, did not participate in the scheme despite graduating at age 25. He studied Law at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, graduating in 1978, and qualifying as a lawyer one year later having finished from the Nigerian Law School.

He immediately went into politics, serving as a lawmaker in the Oyo State House of Assembly.

Asked about his failure to participate in the NYSC scheme, he said he thought his first political post could suffice as national service.

Mr Shittu finished his term as a federal minister in 2019, but his gubernatorial ambition was truncated by his party, the All Progressives Congress because he does not have the NYSC certificate.

4) Bashir Magashi: Before he scaled through the Senate and SSS screening to become the Minister of Defence, Bashir Magashi, a retired army general, stole at least $550,000while in active service.

Mr Magashi, 75, was a former military governor of Sokoto State (1990-1992) and later appointed the commander of the Brigade of Guards in September 1993, two months before Sani Abacha came into power in a bloodless coup.

In 1998, he was appointed the commandant of the Nigerian Defence Academy. Mr Magashi was among the top military officers affected when Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration implemented a daring policy that compulsorily retired all officers who had served in government for six months or more.

Mr Magashi’s pilfering with public funds was discovered by a Swiss lawyer, Enrico Monfrini, tapped by the Obasanjo government to help track and repatriate funds stolen and stashed abroad by Mr Abacha and his associates.

Mr Magashi was found to have stashed in an account, at the Jessey, U.K., branch of Bank PNP Paribus, the sum of $550,000.

The retired military officer, however, admitted wrongdoing and after pleading for a concession, Mr Obasanjo left $150,000 for him, according to a memo by the then National Security Adviser, Abdullahi Mukhtar.

5) Usani Usani: Usani Usani served as the Commissioner for Agriculture, Water Resources and Rural Development in Cross River State between February 1997 and May 1999, during the military administration of Umar Ahmed, a colonel.

It was during this period that he allegedly defrauded the government by refusing to apply government-approved scales when he paid out some money as fees to Gersh Henshaw & Company, a firm that handled the contract for the valuation of vehicles, workshops and equipment belonging to the Cross River Water Board.

An investigative committee set up by Governor Donald Duke in 1999 found that the state lost N16.3 million due to Mr Usani’s action. His indictment was made official by a government gazette and Governor Duke directed that the money be recovered and he be prosecuted.

Mr Usani never challenged his indictment in court.

After filing complaints against Mr Usani at the Code of Conduct Bureau, the state government, curiously, asked for the discontinuation of the case. No reason was given.

Mr Usani, 59, a pastor, was the chairman of the APC in Cross River State when President Buhari appointed him the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs in November 2015.

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/457283-analysis-pantamis-case-portrays-screenings-by-sss-senate-as-charade.html

Normal life

They ought to convert the DSS and NIA offices to a beer parlour


And all the current staff, from the DG to Driver should work there as waiters.



At least FG will get some consumption tax and VAT, instead of the total uselessness that those agencie are.

Nigeria is about what the North wants. They run this country. Accept that truth

They've masterfully put themselves in position of power for anything government related.

Without their support, your agenda is going nowhere.

While they align with each region based on necessity. Genius!

Country run by Terrorists

Him Oga don talk say nothing dey derr that Forgery is a greater sin than a terrorist and we should forgive him....

This people go soon say make we dey forgive rapist sef with the way they're going...

Make them just flush this man out of office na!

Anyone found supporting or lending a voice to terrorist group such as Taliban, alqueda, ISIS, boko haram, herdsmen, bandits just to mention a few, is also a terrorist him or herself.

Patanmi is a dangerous terrorist let him resign. He's a bane to the country alongside the c in c

FarahAideed:


Are u okay with Pantami continuing as a minister?

No he is not,
BUT,

Odewaleadesoye:
Great one
Nevertheless, #ArrestPantami

SECONDED.
After thorough investigation, if found guilty, he should be arrested or resigned honourably.

With all without Pantami, the NIN must go on with the next person coming in.

NIN is not Patamin's family business that will stop if he is removed, so do not get it confused.
NIN is not about a person but about our darling Country moving forward.

A better Nigeria is all we want.
A better Nigeria is what we shall get.
God bless Nigeria.

Addendum:
Notice to Fraudsters and Criminals : With or Without Pantami, According to Law, YOU MUST LINK YOUR SIM WITH YOUR NIN.
And save millions of Nigeria from being scammed and end kidnapping in our nation...... una hear?

Odewaleadesoye:

More respect boss.

Thanks Mr Odewale.
God bless you.

Those people ehh they don't care, just playing party politics

Normal thing in a paddy paddy government.

The trouble is not SSS but who lowers the bar for his friends and loyalists to be in power.

SSS may have done a nice job but from the body language of the president we can easily conclude that he doesn't listen.

Buhari is not loyal to Nigeria as a country. He is loyal to his friends. That's why he finds it hard to sack them even when they are misbehaving or are outrightly incompetent.

So let's not shift the blame.

i don comot my hand for anything concerning Nigeria; you should too!

We don talk am b4 na.. Rubber stamped Senate.. The worst so far in our history..

I see this pantami of a guy dying a slow and painful death for all his atrocities


This I have seen

formality screening



his past has caught up with him

Nairaland members, abeg who is this fucking son of a bitch called Pantami

Our constitution is a charade itself, it gives too much room for shamelessness because if it was a country like USA, Pantami would be wearing a blue and white colour in level 1 security in a certain penetentiary

And who thinks those animals in the Senate and house of representatives have any iota of brain to even do any sensible screening.

Its like asking Shekau to screen Osama bin Laden.

Useless terrorists..

The f#\an! Agenda. Everybody eye go soon open

Of Isa Pantami, Jihad and a Culture of Blackmail by Eseoghene Al-Faruq Ohwojeheri

To say people are blackmailing Isa Ali Pantami because he is going to be President is to reduce the issue.

They are blackmailing him because he is a Muslim Cleric that is a Minister. Some people can't just stand this because for too long Muslims have been put on the defensive and we have allowed it. Muslims on the other hand can stand Osibanjo, a Pastor, even if he quotes from the Bible, no issue.

Now this is for SOME people. Does this mean there are no issues to clarify? No. There are issues to clarify and this has nothing to do with politics.

1. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the Afghanistan Taliban. They don't carry out suicide bombings, they don't target innocent people, they are only fighting for a country they use to govern before they were kicked out. Matter of fact the Americans are presently in negotiation with them. And we pray the issues are resolved. So if Pantani praised the Afghanistan Taliban, there is nothing wrong there. The UN praised them for eradicating opium, I mean total eradication. The US use to praise them before they had issues, so why can't Pantami praise them?

2. His praise of Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda came years ago, before certain things became clearer. He never praised Bin Laden for bombing World Trade Centre. It was the general notion among Muslims (and many non Muslims) at the time that Bin Laden was framed hence he was seen as a hero. As Muslims began to get convinced (rightly or wrongly) that Bin Laden did carry out the attacks, everyone started criticizing him and taking his pictures off their profile and denouncing his ideology. I am not going to go into if Bin Laden actually did what he is accused of as I honestly don't know as of today. But regular Muslims, including Pantami denounce killing innocent people. I am Admin of a Muslim Facebook group with over 20k members and it was only one person ever that supported suicide bombings. Not only did everyone attack him, people hated me and fought me for not removing him from the group, but I argued that we can use argument to change him, my beloved brothers said Islam does not even allow you to be associated with such person. Today we don't know where he is and nobody cares.

3. The other extraneous quote they have dragged in saying Sheikh Uthaymin says Jihad is until Islam is the system all over is just normal. If you have a good system you will want to spread it. Why should Muslims be satisfied with other religion when we believe they are wrong? No, we will continue to propagate Islam. And in places where we are more and most powerful we will operate our system (as some have done to a small extent in some Northern States and as the Christians are doing in the Vetican), but will we force someone else to be Muslim? No, ISLAM forbids it. So what is the problem here? That we feel our faith is best? When has that become a crime? The Sheikh Uthaymin and "Saudi Salafi" that you are attacking and claiming they promote extremism are the same scholars that denounced Bin Laden and Al Qaeda. So why are you confused? Or maybe your target is Islam itself.

4. The worse thing they quoted him as saying is that "we all like it when the unbelievers are being killed...." But I had someone who understand Hausa listen to the lecture and he didn't say that. So we are still searching for where he said that. But even by the translation he went ahead to say "unbelievers cannot be killed for no reason", so what was he trying to say exactly? This point is very important. It is how people misunderstand the Quran. The few verses that talks about war gave the believers PERMISSION to fight in that instance of war because ordinarily they were instructed to be peaceful. If there was no instruction to fight it would mean sit there and be slaughtered. And that is suicide which is also forbidden in Islam.

First, had Islam been based on violence, there would be no need for verses that specifically gives permission to fight in the event of a war.

Secondly, in giving this specific permission the Qur'an says unbelievers. Does it mean fight any unbeliever you see on the road? No, there were unbelievers living with the Prophet while he was fighting other unbelievers that came to attack him in Medina. So when the Quran says unbelievers it already explained which unbelievers it was talking about when it says "fight THOSE WHO FIGHT YOU" so it didn't need to be repeating "unbelievers who fight you" no scripture and nobody speaks like that. Of course if "the unbelievers" invade a Muslim land and starts killing them for nothing, it will make us happy when the Muslim Army have a upper hand and kill these "unbelievers". Does that include killing Mr. Mathew in Nigeria who did not invade a Muslim land and slaughter Muslims and raped our women? Of course not. This is common sense.

If it is not enough that every Muslim you know person to person is peaceful and does not even have a weapon not to talk of being violent, then there is nothing we can do for you.

If it is not enough that the Quran expressly says "there is no compulsion in (the acceptance) of religion" (Qur'an 2:256) and you still want to force yourself to believe that Islam says to kill the non-Muslims because they didn't accept Islam then there is nothing we can do for you.

If it is not enough that your Bible says in clear terms that the Amalekites should be slaughter including "women, children and INFANTS" (1 Samuel 15:3) and YET Muslim don't see you in that light because we understand that at least it was not you that did it, then there is nothing we can do for you.

So no, let us not reduce it to the usual politics. Let us instead use this opportunity to educate our Christian neighbours about the concept of Jihad and ask them to stop blackmailing us with it.

Nah today? Their screening is simply taking a bow and go.

SIMPLE!

Does DSS, ICPC and EFCC still have credibility under this regime? They only run after enemies of buhari. Magu was dealt with by this regime because he was trying to open the nyansh of some APC members of northern extraction and some untouchables like the former head of State in person of Gen Abdulsalaam Abubakar. In spite of the corruption allegation levelled against the new EFCC chair, buhari still endorsed him.

Very true

THIEVES, TERRORISTS, RAPIST .How bout Koro ibo,FAYOSE etc

, YOU SEE THE USELESS GOVERNMENT THE DEAD VEGETABLE CALLED JUBRIL ALSUDAN IS RUNNING?

I don't give a F*ck about this man, the only thing i give a F*ck to is that i ain't linking my Sim to any F*king NIN even heaven wan fall, make e Fall.
I can't entrust my Data in the Hand of a terrorist and an Extrimist.
Am proud to be an Infidel

What a hard time to be a Nigerian

"However, he said he has amended some of his past views, but calls for his resignation have continued to gain traction".

No love between citizens, however this too shall pass.