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Worried by the continued agitation trailing the lopsidedness in the appointment of Service Chiefs and in the public service, members of the House of Representatives warned President Muhammadu Buhari to correct the anomaly without further delay.
The lawmakers expressed the concern during the debate on the motion on the ‘Need for rebasing the employment formular into federal ministries, departments ad agencies of the Federal Government using Local Governments instead of States as a base in compliance with Federal Character provisions’, sponsored by Sani Zoro (APC-Jigawa).
They also frowned at the level of impunity being perpetuated by some Heads/Chief Executive Officers of government agencies, commissions and parastatals, decried the breach of sections 14(3 & 4) of chapter 1, Part II of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), just as they decried a situation where 70% of the entire workforce in specific agency come from the same Local Government at the detriment of 739 Local Government Areas of the Federation.
In his lead debate, Zoro said: “the House is aware of various recruitment and replacement exercises into ministries, departments and agencies of federal government, using states instead of local government structures as the prevailing formular and policy for such recruitments.
“The House is worried that the numerous provisions of subsections 8(1)(a-d), 3 and 9 of Second Schedule, Part II and 14(3) of the Constitution are largely observed in the breach by extra-ministerial departments, parastatals, bodies and institutions of the federal government,” Zoro said.
While speaking, Kingsley Chinda, chairman, House Committee on Public Accounts who frowned at the polarisation of Nigerian state under the present administration in terms of political appointment, noted that breach of the provisions of the Constitution is an impeachable offence.
“What we have is an irresponsible and irresponsive government which is an impeachable offence,” just as he stressed the need for the Presidency to correct some of the lopsidedness in the appointment into the federal cabinet, and other key political offices.
“In a case where the heads of the entire military agencies are dominated by a particular section of the country, we need to correct the ills from the head,” stressing that: “We preach the rule of law but we don’t practice it. The manager of this country should start to comply with section 14 of the Constitution.”
In his remarks, Jagaba Adams Jagaba, chairman, House Committee on Interior, noted that out of 2,000 Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) employed across the country under the last administration, 1,000 came from one Local Government Area.
The Kaduna lawmaker who called for redress, observed that the issue of tribalism, religious sentiment also extended to recruitment in the Nigerian Police, hence harped on the need to give a biting teeth to Federal Character Act.
In his contribution, Wale Raji (APC-Lagos) noted that similar motion was sponsored in the House, noting that the “current institutionalisation of nepotism is against the letter and spirit of the 1999 Constitution.”
Raji, a member of House Committee on Federal Character confirmed that most of the Chief Executive of agencies and parastatals favour indigenes of their Local Governments and relatives during recruitment exercise under their tenure.
However in his brief intervention, Femi Gbajabiamila, Majority Leader stressed the need to adhere strictly to the provisions of Federal Character Act, by addressing the untoward maltreatment.
He observed that the issue of lopsidedness in the appointment of key officers in the country’s economy sector, including CBN Governor under the last administration was unfavourable to other sections of the country, adding that “we have been living with the illegality over the years.”
Following robust debate on the motion, the House resolved that henceforth, mass recruitments into federal ministries, departments and agencies of the federal government should be rebased along our country’s local government structure as the third tier of government as provide for in Part I and II, First Schedule of the Constitution, to promote a sense of belonging for all Nigerians through equitable distribution of employment opportunities.
To this end, the House mandated the Committee on Federal Character and Legislative Compliance to ensure full compliance, monitoring and quarterly reporting to the House on this resolution.
KEHINDE AKINTOLA, Abuja
