Job racketeering: I gave out seven of 11 slots to my own LG — DG

Clement Nze, the Director General of the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency, has said he gave seven out of 11 employment slots ceded to Abia State to his Ummonochi Local Government Area of the state.

The Director General spoke when he appeared before the House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee in Abuja on Tuesday.

The committee is investigating job racketeering in Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government.

In a swift reaction, the Chairman of the committee, Rep. Yusuf Gagdi, said the committee frowned at the revelation that out of 11 staff from Abia State, seven were from Ummonochi LGA, where the DG hailed from.

Gagdi equally picked holes in the discovery that out of seven staff from Borno State, three were from Askira Uba LGA from where the Director of Hydrogeophysics of the agency, Stephen Jaboin, hails from.

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In his ruling, Gagdi directed the Director-General to furnish the committee with a comprehensive list of staff spread by states, among other information.

Also, the Executive Chairman, Fiscal Responsibility Commission, Victor Muruako, while appearing before the committee, said lack of funds prevented the recruitment of 173 fresh staff into the agency since 2022.

Muruako said the commission was given approval since 2022 to recruit 173 members of staff, but due to lack of funds, the exercise has not been carried out.

On the seeming lopsidedness in the nominal roll of staff of the agency, the Executive Chairman promised that the lapses would be redressed when the next recruitment is conducted.

He said the last two recruitments carried out by the commission in 2010 and 2012 were done before he assumed duty as acting chairman, adding that though he was a Director at the time.

Reacting, Gagdi promised that the committee would make a case for the Fiscal Responsibility Commission before the Budget Office to ensure that adequate funds were allocated to the agency to carry out its functions.