- Over alleged violation of federal character principle
The Federal Character Commission (FCC) has called for the suspension of the recruitment exercise being conducted by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) over alleged violation of federal character principles.
Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja on Thursday, Abdulwasiu Bawa-Allah, chairman of the FCC financial services committee, said the commission was not invited to monitor the recruitment exercise.
Bawa-Allah said the allegation of the violation of the federal character principles require thorough investigation.
He claimed that FCC’s correspondence to the NCS on the concerns was ignored.
“Some affected candidates resigned from their jobs, trained replacements, incurred substantial expenses and made important personal decisions,” Bawa-Allah said.
“They did all these with the expectation that their published selection would lead to training and formal engagement.
“It is worthy to note that the FCC is not an advisory body that federal establishments may recognise only when convenient.
“It is a constitutional institution established to promote, monitor and enforce compliance with federal character principles in appointments and recruitment across ministries, departments and agencies.”
Bawa-Allah said successful candidates from the recruitment exercise must be aligned with approved distribution formulas covering all states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
“These safeguards protect merit, equity, transparency and every qualified Nigerian’s right to fair consideration, regardless of state of origin, ethnicity, religion, political affiliation or social connection,” he said.
“It is deeply troubling that the NCS conducted this exercise without the commission’s monitoring and oversight.
“For clarity, the commission is not asking that unqualified candidates be recruited. The FCC does not replace merit.
“It requires suitably qualified candidates from all parts of Nigeria to receive equitable opportunities through transparent, verifiable and nationally inclusive procedures.”
He asked the NCS and its comptroller-general to suspend the recruitment exercise immediately and provide the commission with relevant recruitment records.
In a statement on October 19, NCS said it had acknowledged the complaints of some applicants who participated in the recruitment exercise.
The agency said the applicants were “among those screened out and subsequently not allowed to proceed to the training college despite appearing on the recruitment shortlist”.