A few months after a secret employment exercise by the
Central Bank of Nigeria was unearthed by SaharaReporters, another
government agency has been hit by a similar scandal. This time the
Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), headed by Mr. Babatunde Fowler, a
protege of Bola Tinubu, the National Leader of All Progressives
Congress (APC) has been found to have overseen recruitment excercises in
violation of Nigeria's rules of public advertisement.
SaharaReporters reports that, FIRS, under Fowler, recently employed 3489 new staff. The
recruitment exercise, SaharaReporters authoritatively gathered, was not
preceded by a public advertisement of vacancies to be filled and
approval by the Federal Character Commission as the service rules
stipulate. The newly employed persons were inducted in Abuja last
Wednesday. Fowler, who was appointed last August by President Muhammadu
Buhari, had previously been accused of indifference to service rules on
employment by secretly hiring 250 new staff. However, his accusers,
could not make the charge stick, as he claimed those hired are not
full-time employees but consultants.
The latest findings, however, are accompanied by substantial evidence
including the list of new recruits, complete with their states of
origin, dates of birth, phone numbers, email addresses, academic
qualifications, recommended ranks and proposed duty stations.
The list, exclusively obtained by SaharaReporters, showed that six of
the new recruits are of the position of deputy director, while 10 are
assistant directors. Thirty-four others are of the rank of deputy
manager, while the rest are made up of senior managers, managers,
assistant managers and officers. All the 36 states and the Federal
Capital Territory are represented on the list. Akwa Ibom State, for
example, got six slots, while Gombe has 13. Ondo State is a beneficiary
of 13 slots. Lagos State, where Fowler hails from, was awarded 14
slots.
Katsina got 18, Kano 15 and Borno 23. Rivers State was given 14
slots. But in certain cases, the list does not show the states of origin
and education qualifications of some of the new staff, making it
difficult to know they states of origin and qualifications.
Wahab Gbadamosi, FIRS acting Director of Information, told a news
website last week that relevant agencies of government approved the
recruitment.
"Your enquiry on the targeted recruitment at the Federal Inland
Revenue Service, FIRS refers. We wish to respond as follows: Please note
that requisite agencies of government approved the targeted recruitment
by the FIRS. Due Process -in recruiting into a Federal Government
agency- was followed; The FIRS is a conscientious, law-abiding
institution which adheres to statutory rules and procedures; The FIRS is
focused on its duty to collect revenue to fund the national budget and
pleads that it should be allowed to concentrate on its 2016 target of
N4. 9 trillion,” he was quoted to have responded via email.
Noticeably absent from the mail, however, are whether the vacancies
were advertised or not and the names of the relevant agencies that
green-lighted the recruitment.
As with the CBN recruitment scandal, the list of employed persons reeks of nepotism.
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