Mark Bako Useni is a member representing Takum/Donga/Ussa federal constituency in the House of Representatives from Taraba State under the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
He is among the 37-man committee of the Green Chamber mandated to investigate the alleged job racketeering by some federal government agencies and institutions. But a PREMIUM TIMES investigation revealed that the lawmakers allegedly took bribes amounting to N267 million through a proxy from the federal institutions they were probing.
The committee, known for loudly posturing as an anti-corruption body, has ironically been intimidating heads of agencies into paying huge bribes to avoid being disgraced in public and indicted in a report to be issued after the hearings to which almost all the heads of the nation’s federal institutions have been summoned to appear.
ALLEGED BRIBE-TAKING LAWMAKERS (3): Sani Tanko — The Son of Immediate Past Chief Justice of Nigeria
However, Yusuf Gagdi, a lawmaker representing the Pankshin/Kanam/Kanke federal constituency in Plateau State who happened to be the Chairman of the committee refuted the allegations despite evidence unearthed during the investigation.
CORRUPTION ALLEGATION AGAINST USENI
In 2018, the lawmaker alongside two others was alleged to have been involved in a N267.49m election bribe.
They were arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before the Taraba State High Court on April 12, 2018.
Useni was alleged to have received the sum of N45m for himself and the former governor, Darius Ishaku [but the then PDP Gubernatorial candidate in the state] from the $115m former petroleum minister Diezani bribe to influence officers working with INEC in Taraba State.
ALLEGED BRIBE-TAKING LAWMAKERS (2): Jamo Aminu — A New Comer Who Defeated Buhari’s Nephew
Barely four years later, the court ordered the anti-graft agency to refund the N228 million it forcefully collected from the trio, accusing the prosecution of failure to provide concrete evidence to nail the defendants.
POLITICAL BACKGROUND
Before being elected to the green chamber of the National Assembly, the 53-year-old Useni had represented Takum II constituency in the Taraba State House of Assembly since 2008. He would later emerge as the Speaker in the 7th and 8th Assembly. He tendered his self-resignation as the Speaker in May 2016.
ALLEGED BRIBE-TAKING LAWMAKERS (1): Yusuf Gagdi — The Head Boy and his Antecedents
Until 2023 when he decamped to APC and contested for a parliamentary seat to represent Takum/Donga/Ussa federal constituency, Useni was an ardent member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He was declared the winner of the supplementary election on April 16, 2023, under the APC.
Useni began a civil service career in 1993 when he was employed as a news reporter in Taraba Television before he secured admission and proceeded to the University of Maiduguri in 1998 for a Bachelor’s Degree and obtained a Master of Science (M.Sc.) Degree in Mass Communication from Benue State University, Makurdi in 2007.
