Immigration Must Refund Job Seekers- House Of Reps

The House of Representatives yesterday, directed the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) to refund job seekers their N1,000 each charged as recruitment fee into the services.

The Reps made this query during a Joint Committee public hearing mandated by the House to investigate racketeering of job placement in the public service. At the commencement of the 2-day investigative public hearing, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal expressed concern over what he described as "one of the worst crises Nigerians face today".
"One of the worst crises we face today is the high rate of unemployment and the damage this has caused to our economic, moral and social development as a nation."

At the hearing, the Office of the Head of Civil Service (OHCS) denied granting recruitment waivers, a prerequisite for employment to the Customs to recruit 5,556 in 2011.
The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) and the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) Customs Service were asked to return today having failed to provide the Committee with complete documents on the procedure of the recruitment.

 The agency was also unable to provide documentary evidence to prove that due diligence was adhered to in its recruitment exercises it carried out between 2007 and 2010.The agency was discovered to have no policy on job recruitment since 1991 when it was created.Also, in contravention of the Public Service rules, CAC advertised for employment only in 2010 with appointments based on selection.

In what seemed like buck passing, Director, Human Resources, Labaran Shuaibu, who represented the Commission said she was only two days old on the job and could not give satisfactory responses to many of the questions put to her by the Committee.
The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) also provided conflicting documents to the Committee, while failing to follow due process in its recruitment exercises .While document showed that 2,005 people were employed in 2011, another showed 2,550.
The Committee was enraged when the Secretary to the Immigrations board, Sylvanus Tapgun admitted that he does not know the bank account number where the revenue generated from the employment application forms sold for N1,000 and could not disclose the name and contact of the alleged consulting firm the Service hired to conduct its latest recruitment exercise.
The Secretary also claims to be unaware of House of Representatives' resolution urging the NIS to stop collecting fees for the employment forms, "I did not place the advertisement, it was done by my predecessor, I resume office in September".
The Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) was also discovered to have flouted Public Service rules by recruiting 5,595 in 2011 without approval from the Head of Service, according to the Permanent Secretary. Career Management Service, Ezekiel Oyemomi.
Similarly, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was granted weaver to recruits 801 workers by the Federal Character Commission (FCC) but has recruited 1,146 so far.
At the point, Chairman of the Joint Committee, Andrew Uchendu said the Committee would no longer accept excuse of being new in the office as reason enough to claim ignorance of official matters.

He also noted that para military agencies were more guilty of flouting Public Service rules on recruitment.

"This Investigative Hearing is therefore long overdue and I am glad that we are finally getting to the root of this very serious anomaly.

"It is tragic that in a nation with such a high degree of unemployment, people can be so heartless as to make job-seekers pay for the opportunity of contributing their quota to the development of their father-land.

"This means that however qualified they are, unless they can cough out the bribe, they won't get the job. This situation cannot be allowed to continue. We are denying our youth the opportunity to provide our country with the right manpower.