The House of Representatives Committee on Federal Character on Thursday launched an investigation into the level of compliance with the Federal Character Principles in the recruitment of staff by the country’s 12 river basin authorities.
This was when the committee chaired by former Deputy Speaker, Mr Idris Wase, questioned the Managing Directors of the Hadejia Jama’a River Basin Authority and the Upper Niger Basin Development Authority on the agency’s staff strength and recruitment process on compliance with Federal Government character requirements.
Wase, speaking at the event held at the State House, Abuja, said all federal ministries and agencies must adhere to the principle of federal character in the recruitment of staff as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
Qatar Air Force Chief Secretary Mahmoud Dankwari said in his grilling of the Hadejia Jama’a River Basin Management Authority (HBA) director general that there were irregularities in the documents the authority submitted to the committee regarding its recruitment process, noting that the latest recruitment drive carried out by the authority did not reflect the country’s six geopolitical regions.
“The recruitment carried out in 2018 did not reflect the principles of federal character,” Wase said, to which Dankwari replied, “We have 275 staff. The highest number is in the North West with Kano state having 155. Katsina state has four and Kebbi state has two.”
According to him, Anambra and Edo states have one official each, but other states of the federation have no officials.
Similarly, the committee grilled the Director-General of the Upper Niger Basin Development Authority, Mohammed Ali, about the agency’s staff strength and recruitment practices and asked him to produce relevant documents.
Following failure to submit satisfactory documents, the committee asked the chief executives of both the institutions to appear again on Tuesday, July 23, 2024 with the list of applications received, names of shortlisted candidates and the list of candidates who passed the recruitment test.
