Another secret recruitment has been uncovered in a federal government agency. This time, it is the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, that is embroiled in a scandal over the illegal employment exercise carried out by its executive chairman, Mr. Babatunde Fowler, a Buhari appointee.
Fowler, who is a protege of a co-founder and disputed national leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu, has been found to have overseen a recruitment exercise that did not follow the rules of employment in the public service.
The 349 roles at the Federal Inland Revenue Service were not advertised, according to citizen reporter website, SaharaReporters, and the recruitment exercise was shrouded in secrecy.
Not only that, the new FIRS recruitment did not follow federal character principles with some regions and states being short changed while some were “rewarded” according to the infamous “97% vs 5%” principles of President Muhammadu Buhari.
According to investigations the new recruits were inducted to the FIRS in Abuja on Wednesday, June 15, 2016.
It was gathered that this would not be the first time Mr. Fowler had shown disdain for laid down civil service rules. Earlier in his tenure, which began in August 2015, Fowler was accused of hiring 250 new staff without obtaining the approval of the Federal Character Commission as required by law.
Fowler dismissed the allegations at the time claiming that he had not hired full-time staff but “consultants”.
You may view the full list below and the story continues below it.
Secret Recruitment List At FIRS by The Trent
The detailed list first reported by SaharaReporters, shows states of origin, dates of birth, phone numbers, email addresses, academic qualifications, recommended ranks and proposed duty stations of the new FIRS recruits.
Six of the new FIRS staff are deputy directors, 10 are assistant directors, 34 are deputy managers, while the rest are senior managers, managers, assistant managers and officers. All the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory are represented on the list. An initial review shows Akwa Ibom State got 6 slots while Katsina has 18, Kano 15, and Borno 23. Gombe and Ondo have 13 slots. Lagos State has 14 slots.
The document above have no states of origin or qualification beside some named leaving one to wonder if they are even qualified for the roles given them.
Spokesman for the FIRS, Mr. Wahab Gbadamosi had emailed an official response to an news website on the controversial recruitment exercise last week saying, “Please note that requisite agencies of government approved the targeted recruitment by the FIRS. Due process in recruiting into a federal government agency- was followed.”
Gbadamosi extolled the FIRS as “a conscientious, law-abiding institution which adheres to statutory rules and procedures” and then said that the press should allow the FIRS “concentrate on its duty to collect revenue of N4. 9 trillion to meet its 2016 target”.
Gbadamosi, however, failed to indicate if the vacancies were advertised and indicate the names of the “relevant agencies” that approved the illegal recruitment exercise.
