Security personnel arrested 33-year-old Monsuru Musa in Abuja on Wednesday, October 7, 2026, after he was allegedly caught writing a Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) promotion examination on behalf of his father, Musa Mohammed, an employee of the FCT Fire Service. The arrest occurred at an examination centre located within the premises of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), where the FCT Civil Service Commission was conducting its promotion exercise.
Incident Details and Security Monitoring
The incident took place on the third day of the promotion examination, which was being closely monitored by security personnel deployed at the instance of FCT Minister Nyesom Wike. According to information released by Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media to Wike, security personnel caught Monsuru while he was taking the examination meant for his father. Olayinka shared a video of the incident on his official social media handle.
During questioning, Monsuru reportedly admitted that he was not the person registered to take the examination. He explained that his father was sick and was also somewhere within the NOUN premises, adding that Mohammed had instructed him to take the promotion examination on his behalf. The younger Musa maintained that he was acting at his father’s request because of the older man’s health condition.
Father and Son Interrogated Separately
His father was subsequently brought in for questioning, where he confirmed that Monsuru was his biological son. An interrogator then asked Mohammed whether he had asked his son to take the examination because of his health. “Because of your health, you asked him to come and take the exam for you?” the interrogator asked. “Yes,” Mohammed replied.
The interrogation took another turn when Monsuru was asked how old his father was. The 33-year-old said Mohammed was between 67 and 68 years old. When Mohammed was questioned separately, however, he gave a different account. The older man said he would turn 60 in February 2027, meaning there was a substantial discrepancy between the age given by him and the age stated by his son.
Background and Further Inquiry
The conflicting accounts prompted further questioning about Mohammed’s background. Mohammed told the interrogators that he completed primary school in 1977 and secondary school in 1982. He also said he travelled to Portugal in 1991 and began working in 2007. At another point during the questioning, he indicated that he was due to retire in February, although reports of the interrogation indicate that he appeared uncertain about his exact age.
After the interrogation, Monsuru and Mohammed made statements to operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS). They were subsequently handed over to the police for further investigation. Authorities have not announced any conviction against either man, and the allegations remain subject to investigation. The immediate police inquiry is expected to establish the circumstances surrounding the alleged impersonation and whether any further offences were committed in connection with the examination.
Broader Examination Context
The arrest happened against the backdrop of tighter monitoring of the FCTA’s promotion examinations. The 2026 promotion examination was organised by the FCT Civil Service Commission for eligible civil servants seeking career progression. About 10,700 FCT civil servants were participating in the exercise, which began on October 5 and was expected to run into the following week across designated examination centres in Abuja.
The Chairman of the FCT Civil Service Commission, Engr. Emeka Ezeh, said the exercise was intended to ensure that eligible officers were promoted when due and to clear outstanding promotion backlogs inherited by the commission. Ezeh said the commission had cleared the outstanding backlogs and expected to return to corresponding annual promotion exercises from 2027. The commission has also emphasised that promotion is based on merit and applicable public service rules, with eligibility depending on factors including the required period spent on an officer’s current post, the prescribed examination score, available vacancies and the absence of disciplinary issues.
