Recruitment in PEF: Applicants petition Senate, FCC

No fewer than 11 applicants have petitioned the Senate and the Federal Character Commission (FCC) to probe the recent recruitment exercise in the Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF).

In the petition signed by 11 applicants, which dated January 21, 2012 and received by both the Senate and the FCC on January 22, 2013, the applicants who claimed to be graduates of different universities in the country, alleged that the management of PEF recruited over 80 people without recourse to statutes regulating recruitment in the public service.

They alleged that PEF management did not give a level playing field to all Nigerians in their recruitment process so as to favour their people friends.

“The management of PEF did not follow due process by publishing/advertising existing vacancies in any national news daily as stipulated by the statute thereby depriving us of the opportunity to participate in the interview or selection exercise which was held between 3rd and 17th January, 2013,” they stated in the petition.

They said that while they had no grudges against those employed by the organisation, they are offended by the process that clandestinely gave them employment without having regards to the principle of federal character as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

They noted that part of the promise of the Federal Government was creation of jobs for unemployed Nigerians as well as giving equal opportunity to all irrespective of religious affiliation, financial capacity, ethnic and social background.

According to them, they believed the FCC was established, which the National Assembly was in support, to check flagrant abuse of processes and procedures of recruitment by various government establishments, including PEF.

The applicants therefore urged the Senate and the FCC to accommodate the probe of process of recruitment in PEF alongside that of the Nigeria Immigration Service.