House of representatives’ members were stunned yesterday to hear that former President Goodluck Jonathan’s order for employment of 176 victims and families of the 2014 Nigerian Immigration Service’s recruitment tragedy was “merely symbolic”.
Ministry of Interior’s Permanent Secretary Abubakar Magaji said this yesterday at the National Assembly during the investigative public hearing held by the Femi Gbajabiamila-led House Ad-hoc Committee on “Immigration Recruitment Stampede”.
In the wake of the March 15, 2014 NIS’ recruitment stampede tragedy, Jonathan through a letter dated March 26, 2014 from the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), directed that three family members of each deceased member (at least one of them a female) should be given immediate and automatic employment, including all those injured.
But families and victims of the stampede last week stormed the National Assembly Complex, protesting that the employment letters given to them had been withdrawn by the ministry.
The permanent secretary told the committee that the recruitment exercise effected by Presidential Committee headed by the Chairman of the Civil Service Commission at the time was an “illegality”.
He insisted that ministry and the Fire, Immigration and Civil Defence Board did not get presidential approval for the recruitment, hence the letters given for employment were recalled.
Magaji said: “Following the failed recruitment exercise in 2014 that led to the loss of lives, the president approved the setting up of a presidential committee and mandated it to assist the board to conduct the aborted recruitment of Immigration Service.
“The presidential committee carried out the recruitment exercise without the involvement of the board, which was against the terms of reference in the provisions of the Board’s Act. Sir, what we are working on, up till today, there’s no single approval by M. President to carry out such exercise. We are only hearing on papers.”
Magaji, however, said the “employment letters are still valid”, but that the only problem was how to get the funds to pay the prospective employees.
The board’s secretary, A. A. Ibrahim, whose signature was on the recruitment letters of 400 Assistant Superintendent Officer and 1,600 junior officers, said it was Magaji who issued a “stay of order” on the employment and also ordered the withdrawal of the letters.
The lawmakers were told that the letters dated March 26, 2014, were signed by the SGF, but was not approved by Mr. President, hence they were termed “ceremonial letters”.
But the House members were unhappy with the exercise and were unconvinced with the submissions of Magaji and Ibrahim.
Gbajabiamila said it was a shame and an embarrassment that the incident occurred in the first place, adding that it has caused the nation much embarrassment locally and internationally.
He wondered how the President’s directive to employ 176 people could snowball into the employment of 2,000 people.
The Minority Leader Leo Ogor, who also lamented the shoddy manner the issue has been treated, posited that the presidential directive was akin to the ‘Doctrine of Necessity’, which he noted was in conformity with the President’s power to issue prerogative of mercy.
Deputy Comptroller of Immigration, Yahaya Mangwi, who represented the NIS management, denied knowledge of the funds’ whereabouts.
“We don’t know where the money has gone to. We didn’t know about recruitment; we just saw advert in the newspapers,” he said.
The committee members insisted that the ministry’s budget for the year 2016 must include the salaries of those listed by the former president for employment.
Thenationline.ng extract
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