ABUJA — Former Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, has been accused of official corruption for allegedly shielding senior staff of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) from prosecution and disciplinary action over a ₦122 million financial misappropriation.
Addressing newsmen in Abuja, the Convener of Concerned Citizens, Ibrahim Illyas Kaltungo, recalled that an investigative report published by Premium Times exposed how two senior NCC officials—Yakubu Gontor, Head of Finance, and Philip Eretan, former Head of Internal Audit—fraudulently collected millions of Naira as travel allowances for official trips they never embarked upon.
According to findings by an internal investigative committee set up by the NCC Governing Board in 2020, Gontor unlawfully received ₦54 million, while Eretan raked in approximately ₦68 million in unmerited allowances.
Although the investigative panel recommended that both officials face a formal disciplinary panel and be handed over for legal prosecution, the group stated that the Umar Danbatta-led management of the NCC opted to deduct the stolen funds in installments from their monthly emoluments rather than subjecting them to court prosecution or administrative suspension.
Kaltungo noted that despite receiving formal petitions and warnings from civic groups—including the Lygel Youths and Leadership Initiatives (LYLI)—asking the minister to intervene and enforce anti-corruption laws, Pantami turned a deaf ear and failed to sanction the management or call for the prosecution of the indicted officers.
The group condemned the continued retention and protection of the indicted officers within the public service, describing the minister’s inaction and the NCC management’s compromise as a blatant attempt to condone corruption within Nigeria’s public institutions.
