A recent analysis by Daily Trust has revealed that 90 per cent of Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC) employees were recruited from the southern part of the country during the administration of Goodluck Jonathan.
The analysis revealed that 4, 916 workers were employed between in the last three years without due process as no vacancies were declared nor advertised for qualified and interested persons to compete for the positions.
The document showed that federal character principles were not adhered to in the recruitment of 486 in 2013; 4, 368 in 2014 and 50 in 2015.
The federal character principle requires that employment into government agencies be evenly distributed across the country. The official document showed the civil service hired 73.9 per cent of the staff from the south, leaving only 26.1 percent for the north.
The Federal Character Commission (FCC) said the recruitment “threw away all common sense and wisdom of national cohesion and integration by favouring other states to the detriment of others.”
The FCC Act No 34 of 1996 prescribes fairness and equity in the distribution of public posts and socio-economic infrastructures among the various federating units of the country.
The federal character commission derives its powers from sections 14 (3) and (4) of the 1999 Constitution.
It was revealed that the south south and south west benefitted heavily during the three-year period while other regions made do with what was left.
It was revealed that the south south and south west benefitted heavily during the three-year period while other regions made do with what was left.
South-south got 1,647 (33.6 per cent); South-west 1,336 (27.2 per cent); South-east 642 (13.1 per cent); North-central 509 (10.4 per cent); North-west 447 (9.1 per cent) and North-east 323 (6.6 per cent).
Delta state was the highest beneficiary with 13.1 per cent of the positions while the lowest rung of the ladder was occupied by Jigawa and Ebonyi states as they got 0.7 per cent each.
States with the highest slots are Delta with 642, Ogun with 295, Oyo with 254 and Edo with 240. States with least slots include the Federal Capital Territory which got 22 and Jigawa and Ebonyi which had 36 each.
Dr. Shettima Bukar Abba who is the chairman of FCC wrote a letter to the FCSC questioning the lopsided recruitment scheme which favoured some regions at the expense of others.
It questioned how the south-south could be allocated 33.6 per cent of the total candidates recruited as against the combined 26 per cent allocated to the north-east, north-west and north-central.
The letter also questioned the allocation of 27.2 per cent of the candidates recruited from the South-west which was more than the allocation of the entire three zones of the North combined.
Part of the letter read:
“In retrospect, this breach couldn’t have occurred if the leadership of the Civil Service Commission had listened to our clarion call for partnership and synergy to enable a just, fair and equitable distribution of these posts.”
It urged the civil service to correct the inequality and make sure the 2016 recruitment conforms to the federal character index.
However, Dr Joel Oruche who is the spokesperson of the FCSC claimed that the discrepancies in the past few years could be traced to specific requirements like specialised fields, gender factors, presidential awardees for 2012, 2013 and 2014 who were granted automatic employments, skilled physically challenged and wider range of job selection for states with limited skilled manpower.
“The Principle of Federal Character is a dynamic process and it requires balancing from time to time. In addition to our effort, educational imbalance has contributed to its slow process and it would take some time for a full accomplishment of the desired national result. It is not only in the North that we have this sort of imbalance, it also affects some disadvantaged states in the South,” he said.
Oruche explained they had to make changes in cases where some states could not meet requirements. For example, Kaduna and Kogi states enjoyed higher allocation to address north-south imbalance.
Mr Idris Abdullahi who is the special assistant on media to FCC chairman said:
“We seem to have an issue with the Federal Civil Service Commission. They felt they are independent and there are many independent bodies. The constitution is so clear that the composition of the government of the federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria.
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