The House of Representatives has directed the Federal government to henceforth carryout its recruitment exercises based on Local government structure.
According to the lawmakers, the extant policy whereby state structure is used for recruitment has deepened tribalism and nepotism in Federal government appointments and recruitments into Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) thereby leading to the domination of the nationโs bureaucracy by a section of the country.
In its resolution, the House directed that โHenceforth, mass recruitment into government MDAs should be rebased along the countryโs Local government structure as the third tier of government โ as provided for in parts 1 and 11, first schedule of the constitution, to promote a sense of belonging for all Nigerians through equitable distribution of employment opportunitiesโ.
This followed the adoption of a motion of urgent national importance by Sani Zoro (APC, Jigawa), who said lawmakers were aware of various recruitment and replacement exercises into MDAs of Federal government, using states instead of Local government structures as the prevailing formula and policy for such recruitment.
Meanwhile, the provisions of the Federal Character Commission (FCC) give effects to the constitution on equitable recruitment of personnel but it becomes worrisome that the numerous constitutional provisions are largely observed in the breach by extra โ ministerial departments, parastatals, bodies and institutions of Federal government, he noted
In his contribution, Kingsley Chinda (PDP, Rivers) said appointments by the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government is totally guilty of the allegation of tribalism in appointments.
He said the subject matter has shown the government of All Progressives Congress (APC) as irresponsible.
Saying that the skewed appointment of the nationโs security chiefs was an instance, Chinda added, โWe have an irresponsible and irresponsive government.
โIf such appointments are happening at the top, if I am a head of an agency, I will do more and point 100 percent my peopleโ.
Adams Jagaba (Kaduna) however countered him saying issue of tribalism and nepotism in government appointments did not start with the current administration.
He cited the appointment of 500 people from one Local government in the South South in the last recruitment exercise by the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS).
โThese 500 people were not from the north. Tribalism cut across every administration but what we need to do is to look at ourselves and make concerted effort to address it.
โThe problem did not start with this administration and not likely to stop until we give teeth to laws that address this problem,โ he noted.
The Majority Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila, while backing Jagabaโs submission noted that there is a need to follow provision of Federal character in all appointments.
He said it is self serving to tag the APC government as the initiator of tribalistic appointments in the country, โIn the past regime, appointment in finance sector was tilted to one section of the country, this has been with us for a while.
โWhile it is better late than never, the correction should have come a long time ago if they had looked back,โ he added.
The motion was unanimously adopted after a voice vote and Committee on Federal Character and Legislative Compliance respectively were mandated to ensure full enforcement, monitoring and quarterly reporting to the House on the resolution.
