- Insists claims ‘uninformed, misleading and lacking in fair hearing’
BY EDMOND ODOK – Faced with allegations of jettisoning due process and embracing shady arrangements in hiring about 70 new staff, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has stoutly defended the conduct of its recently concluded recruitment exercise.
NEITI’s justification of the contentious recruitment is coming on the heels of claims by an online newspaper that the Agency shunned the Public Service Rule of transparency and due process while allegedly embarking on the secret recruitment of new workers.
Speaking at the induction training exercise for the new employees in Abuja on Monday, the NEITI Executive Secretary, Orji Ogbonnaya Orji described criticisms trailing the exercise as “certainly false, uninformed, misleading and lacking in fair hearing.”
Orji explained that the recruitment exercise, handled by the Human Resources Committee of the NEITI Board, also referred to as the National Stakeholders Working Group (NSWG), got all necessary approvals from the relevant authorities.
According to him, the process began in February this year with the review of over 2000 curriculum vitae in the NEITI Database from applicants under the NEITI “Leave Application Behind” policy (LAB), adding; “This is a policy put in place by NEITI over the years to preserve and provide hope for applicants who seek a career in the organization”.
Further defending why the vacancies were not advertised in the national media as required by law, Orji stated that aside from the recruitment exercise being endorsed by appropriate and relevant authorities, NEITI was also granted a waiver by the Federal Character Commission (FCC) as a result of the huge volumes of applications received.
He said a review of the applications indicated that 166 candidates were shortlisted and invited for interviews, out of which 145 attended, with 18 absentees and three being disqualified for integrity issues, for failure to show proof of participation in the National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) 2021 scheme and disparity in age declarations.
The NEITI boss said in assessing the candidates, the interview panel paid priority attention to their qualifications, knowledge of intended roles at NEITI, leadership, conflict management, interpersonal skills, and team building as well as computer literacy and proficiency.
He further said; “From the assessment, 23 candidates scored 75% and above and made the national merit list, while 36 others that scored between 70-74% fell within the general merit. 82 candidates met the minimum score of 65%, while four candidates who made the minimum score of 65% were considered strictly to address equity in federal character representation”.
For Orji, NEITI not only adhered to existing guidelines for transparent and competitive processes during the exercise, but also considered issues of gender equity and diversity of the country.
He appreciated the Office of the Secretary to Government of the Federation (OSGF), Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF), the Federal Character Commission (FCC), and the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning for the professional guidance and budgetary provisions to accommodate the exercise
Orji, who acknowledged that the contentious exercise took place when issues of poor governance, lack of transparency and accountability in the extractive industry go against global best practices in Nigeria, said NEITI remains sensitive to its public ethics and commitments to EITI principles and would not compromise the NEITI/EITI brand as an island of integrity and excellence.
The NEITI Chief Executive said the new staff are young graduates who would meet the Agency’s manpower needs in the areas of geology, various aspects of engineering, geo-physics, mathematics, statistics, data analysis, computer science and information technology, communication, theatre arts, accounting, and management among others.
It would be recalled an online publication had accused NEITI of abusing Section 2 of the Public Service Rule (PSR) on recruitment into the Federal Civil Service which requires that vacancies be advertised in the national newspapers for members of the general public to have equal opportunity to participate in the process.
Specifically, the publication alleged the recruitment exercise overlooked this important condition with most of the recruited staff being children of friends, cronies and associates of the NEITI Board members, including the Executive Secretary, who purportedly adopted skewed procedures as against an “open, inclusive and competitive” process as required by existing laws – With additional report from Mediatracnet.com
