Reps query JAMB Registrar over lopsided employment agency.

Jonas Ezieke, Abuja

The House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating employment racketeering by Ministries Departments and Agencies and Mismanagement of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System IPPIS on Monday grilled the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board JAMB over what is described as lopsided employment in the agency.

The House probe panel had demanded that the agency immediately submit to it , the list of all staff employed between 2015- 2023 and decried lack of adherence to extant regulation of the nation’s public service on this matter.

Chairman of the House Committee Hon Yusuf Gagdi who issued the the directive to the JAMB Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at an investigative hearing said the agency had  shortchanged many Nigerians citizens on their employment records.

He said that from the documents available to the probe panel, the examination body had been undertaking employement of workers without due process of advertisement, shortlisting and interview of job seekers.

The lawmaker and other committee members noted that the agency had been getting waivers for the recruitment of staff yet it failed to adhere to the provisions of the law on non engagement of more than 100 staff annually.

According to the House Committee helsman, the examination body in 2021 employed more than 300 staff at one recruitment excercise without adhering to the extant provision of law on the issue.

The Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede said that most recruitment of staff done by the agency followed the disengagement of ad-hoc staff, also dismissed  for non adherence to federal character provision on the agency’s recruitments.

He explain the alleged lopsided employement by the examination body as a result of need to fill vacancies in the over 40 offices in different states of the federation and told the committee that most of the staff recruitment was done after consultation with state governors.

But the Committee Chairman Hon.Gagdi in his ruling said that the agency must submit the nominal roll of its staff recruited from 2015-2023 adding that there should be its tabulation state by state by the agency.

Meanwhile, the House Committee had taken more oral testimonies from Messers Babamasi Jalo, Abdulraziz Azara, Musa Ibrahim and two other victims of employment racketeering by the former Desk Officer of the Federal Character Commission FCC Mr.Haruna Kolo.

In his presentation before the House probe panel, Mr Jalo said that Kolo collected N1.2 Million from him for IPPIS capturing and asked him to look for other persons to be employed into the FCC and the National Institute of Oceanography and Marine Research Lagos for salary payment.

He also said that he made several payments of huge funds into the accused man’s account number running into millions of naira adding that suspect told him that he transfers all the money to the chairperson of the commission.

The House Committee in a final ruling on the matter said that the panel is insistent that Haruna Kolo, the Director of IPPIS in the Office of Accountant-General of the Federation and the other accused persons in the saga must appear unfailingly before the probe panel before it concludes its sitting.