Barely weeks after 22 directors in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were retired on the grounds of the mandatory eight-year tenure rule, and just days after the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation reaffirmed compulsory retirement upon either attaining 60 years of age or completing eight years in office, a fresh scandal has erupted in the Directorate of Technical Aid Corps (TAC), an agency under the MFA, SaharaReporters, an online news media reports.
The controversy centres on Mr. Zakari Usman, a self-proclaimed “Ambassador,” who is now under intense scrutiny over allegations of gross abuse of office, financial recklessness, and deliberate circumvention of the Public Service Rules.
Multiple sources familiar with the development told SaharaReporters that Mr. Usman, a longtime friend and former classmate of Dr. Yusuf Buba Yakub, currently serving as the Director-General of the Nigeria Technical Aid Corps (NTAC), allegedly benefited from an unlawful extension of service after attaining the mandatory retirement age.
Dr. Yakub, a former member of the House of Representatives, was appointed Director-General of NTAC in 2023.
As head of the agency, he oversees Nigeria’s Technical Aid Corps programme, which is responsible for deploying Nigerian professionals to African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) countries in line with Nigeria’s foreign policy objectives and South-South cooperation initiatives.
According to insiders, upon his return from a foreign posting, Mr. Usman allegedly lobbied aggressively to be deployed to TAC as Head of Programmes, apparently to reunite with his old associate and gain direct access to the agency’s operational finances.
“Immediately he returned, he pushed to be posted to TAC. Everybody knew it was because of his relationship with the DG,” one senior official disclosed.
“He wanted a strategic position that would give him influence over the programme funds.”
Sources alleged that shortly after his posting, Mr. Usman and the DG began exploiting TAC’s foreign volunteer programme by diverting funds meant for Nigerian volunteers deployed abroad.
A source told SaharaReporters that both men allegedly connived to take personal foreign trip advances of not less than $10,000 per trip, converting what should have been official operational disbursements into what insiders described as “a private ATM arrangement.”
“They turned foreign trips into a business venture,” a source told SaharaReporters. “Every trip came with at least $10,000 in advance. It became routine.”
It is further alleged that the practice became habitual, with the duo embarking on an average of three foreign trips monthly.
This allegedly translated into approximately $30,000 in monthly personal advances. Over time, sources claim, the total personal advances collected by Mr. Usman alone may have reached as much as $480,000.
According to insiders, the agency’s accountant, posted from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, repeatedly raised concerns about the frequency and scale of the advances. However, those warnings were allegedly ignored.
“The accountant complained several times that this was against procedure,” another source revealed.
The scandal reportedly took a more disturbing turn on February 14, 2026, when Mr. Zakari Usman turned 60 years old, the mandatory retirement age under Nigeria’s Public Service Rules.
Staff members, however, celebrated his birthday openly in the office, confirming that the agency was fully aware he had reached retirement age.
“His 60th birthday was celebrated in the office. There was no secrecy about his age,” one staff member said. “Everyone knew he had reached the retirement threshold.”
Rather than exiting the service in compliance with established rules, sources allege that Mr. Usman and the TAC leadership devised a scheme to keep him in office. In what insiders have described as unlawful and unprecedented, his service was allegedly extended by one year.
The extension, according sources, was conveyed through a letter signed by Mr. M. Sani on behalf of the Director-General of TAC.
“This was done to keep him in the system and sustain the financial arrangements they already had in place,” a source alleged. “It was a calculated move.”
Some of the aggrieved staff noted that this development comes at a time when the federal government has been enforcing strict compliance with civil service rules, including the compulsory retirement of senior officials who have either attained 60 years of age or completed eight years in office.
Anti-corruption advocates have described the alleged extension as a blatant abuse of office and a direct affront to ongoing reforms within the public service.
“This reckless abuse of power and deliberate violation of extant rules must not be allowed to stand,” a top staff member said. “If directors in the MFA can be retired in line with the rules, no one should be above the law.”
Calls have now intensified for the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and other relevant anti-corruption agencies to immediately investigate the allegations of financial impropriety within TAC.
“We are calling on the ICPC and EFCC to immediately probe the allegations, including claims that Mr. Zakari Usman may have collected personal foreign trip advances totaling as much as $480,000,” one source stated.
However, some stakeholders have also urged the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation to nullify the unlawful extension of service and to ensure that all those implicated in the alleged misconduct are held accountable.
“Nigeria is bigger than any individual or group of individuals,” another official said. “No one must be allowed to trample on the Public Service Rules, hijack government institutions, and loot public resources with impunity.”
Meanwhile, in a document of extension obtained by SaharaReporters, dated February 13, 2026, with Ref. No. CO.32/1 Vol. 9, from the National Intelligence Agency and addressed to the Director-General/CEO of the Nigeria Technical Aid Corps (NTAC), the agency acknowledged that Mr. Zakari had retired.
The document also directed that the DGNIA had approved a one-year extension of the duty tour in favour of Amb. Z. Y. Usman.
The statement read, “I am directed to inform that DGNIA has approved one (1) year extension of duty tour in favour of Amb. Z. Y. USMAN (Dir., fdc) who recently retired from active service.
“Accordingly, he remains the Agency representative at the establishment. In this regard, you are kindly requested to accord him the usual cooperation.
“Please, accept the assurances of the Director-General’s high regards and esteem.”
When SaharaReporters contacted the Deputy Director of Administration, Ambassador Dahiru Muhammad, he promised to respond but had not done so by the time of filing this report.