Senate screens Buhari’s FCSC nominees

…reopens fake recruitment scandal The Senate on Monday screened President Muhammadu Buhari’s nominees as Chairman and commissioners of the Federal Civil Service Commission. During the exercise, members of the Committee on Establishment and Public Service asked them to explain the fake recruitment scandal that rocked the service in 2012. Buhari had appointed the chairman and 12 commissioners of the FCSC. Appointed as Chairman-nominee of the FCSC board is Dr Bello Ingawa (Katsina State). The Commissioner-nominees are Moses Ngbale (Adamawa), Waziri Ngurno (Borno), Bello Babura (Jigawa), Ahmed Sama (Kebbi), Iyabode Odulate-Yusuf (Ogun), Shehu Danyaya (Niger), Fatai Olapade (Oyo), Ejoh Chukwuemeka (Anambra), Joe Poroma (Rivers), Ibrahim Mohammed (Kaduna), Aminu Sheidu (Kogi) and Simon Etim (Akwa Ibom). Members of the committee asked some of the nominees to explain what they knew about the scandal and their possible roles in it. The FCSC is the executive body that has the authority to appoint, transfer, discipline and sack all federal civil servants. Over 80 applicants were reported to have paid as much as N250, 000 to secure appointments, some of which turned out to be fake. The Chairman of the committee, Senator Emmanuel Paulker, described the scandal as a “huge embarrassment to the country that should not have been swept under the carpet.” Paulker decried that the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Offences Commission which investigated the scandal did not make its report available to the lawmakers. The lawmaker pointed out that the racketeering was so serious especially as the seal of the FCSC was used by those involved. He recalled that some of those who got appointment letters started work while “some of them worked for over three months and had to be stopped when the scandal blew open.” Paulker further recalled that the scandal became more shocking when some commissioners who served during the period were fingered to have been involved. Members of the committee directed their questions to Ibrahim Mohammed (Kaduna), Prof. Aminu Dio Sheidu (Kogi) and Simon Etim (Akwa Ibom), who were nominated for reappointment into the commission. Responding, Mohammed told the committee that the issue came up several times but nobody accepted responsibility. He said commissioners of the FCSC resolved that the issue be thoroughly investigated, leading to the invitation of the ICPC to probe the scandal. Ibrahim said he was not invited by the ICPC during its investigation. Sheidu also said that the issue was investigated. He admitted that proper procedures were not followed in the recruitment. He said, “At a point in time, the chairman (of the commission) was by-passing the commissioners and was issuing directives to the director of recruitment. On several occasions, some commissioners confronted the chairman.” Sheidu said the ICPC invited all of them for questioning as part of the process of their investigation. He said the crisis became worse when the chairman allegedly unilaterally fixed a date and asked Ministries, Departments and Agencies to delist those who were recruited during the period. The decision of the chairman, he said, did not go down well with most of the commissioners. In his response, Etim also blamed the alleged unilateral decisions by the FCSC chairman as the crux of the matter.]]>