By Mary Sunday
The House of Representatives has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to lift the embargo on employment in Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government.
The House has also urged the Federal Civil Service Commission and other relevant bodies to immediately act upon Mr President’s directive in this regard.
These resolutions followed the adoption of a motion calling on the President to Lift the Embargo on Employment moved by Hon. Francis Ejiroghene Waive during plenary on Wednesday.
Moving the motion, Waive noted that the immediate past Administration amid the recession that hit the economy in the country due to the huge drop in the international price of crude oil at the time and Covid 19 pandemic placed an embargo on employment in Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government.
He recalled that the 9th House of Representatives passed a resolution calling on the then President to lift the embargo on employment and that there are reports in social media that the embargo had been lifted but there is no evidence of any employment taking place whatsoever.
The lawmaker expressed worries that for several years there has not been any employment in the Civil Service of the Federation, thereby creating a shortage of manpower, especially in the junior and middle-level cadre as officers are promoted and some retire and others die.
He further stated that some Ministries Departments and Agencies MDAs have resorted to engaging casual staff who are paid from their Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) and other sources, while it is sad that these casual staffs are non-pensionable, the act of spending government money without appropriation by the legislature for whatever purpose is illegal.
“The withdrawal of subsidy on petroleum products has increased the hardship of jobless Nigerian youths and appreciates the measures planned by the President to alleviate the suffering of the masses. Lifting of the embargo on employment and going ahead to employ young qualified Nigerians should be a part of Mr. President’s rescue measures as some of the savings from the removal of the subsidy could be used in this direction,”he added.
The House however Mandated the Committees on Public Service Matters, Labour and Employment (when constituted)to ensure compliance and report back within four(4) weeks for further legislative action.
