TheCable

The house of representatives has resolved to investigate allegation of lopsided recruitment in the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), and Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).

The motion was passed during plenary session on Wednesday following the adoption of a motion sponsored by Ibrahim Kawu, a lawmaker from Kano.

Kawu said the alleged irregular recruitment in NEITI and NUPRC violates section 14(3) of the 1999 constitution which mandates government agencies to reflect the federal character principle in the conduct of their affairs to promote national unity.

The section states: “The composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few states or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that Government or in any of its agencies”.

The probe comes amid investigations by the lower legislative chamber into some ministries, departments and agencies over alleged contravention of the aforementioned section in their recruitment process.

In October, the lawmakers passed a motion to investigate the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) over alleged violation of the federal character principle in its recruitment and promotion exercises.

A similar motion was passed in July after the house ruled that there is skewed recruitment in the Nigerian Transmission Company (TCN).

THE MOTION

While moving the motion, the legislator said there has been “public outcry” that the recruitment/employment in NEITI and NUPRC “has been concentrated on a particular state/region of the country”.

“NEITI and NUPRC are guided and regulated by the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he said.

The motion was unanimously adopted when it was put to a voice vote by Idris Wase, the presiding officer.

The lawmakers then asked NEITI and NUPRC “to cancel the recruitment/employment if found short of the federal character observance.”.

They also mandated the committees on petroleum upstream and federal character to investigate the “lopsidedness of the recruitment/employment process of NEITI and NUPRC” and report back within three weeks.