The House of Representatives on Thursday urged the authorities of the Nigeria Immigration Services (NIS) to abide by the principle of federal character in the forthcoming 2017 recruitment exercise.
BusinessDay gathered that the recruitment exercise into Civil Defence, Fire and Prisons Services will also commence after the signing of the 2017 Appropriation bill into law.
No fewer than 1,110 personnel are to be recruited into the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) in the forthcoming exercise which will take place across the country.
Abiodun Olasupo, chairman, House Committee on Legislative Compliance gave the charge during an interactive session with Sunday Ogu, Director, Civil Defence, Fire, Immigration and Prisons Services Board (CDFIPB).
Olasupo who stressed the need for equal representation in the recruitment exercise considering the army of unemployed Nigerian youths especially graduates, maintained that every section of the country should be given equal opportunity.
The lawmaker explained that the meeting was part of the proactive steps being taken by the House to ascertain the level of the Board’s preparedness for the exercise.
“We are concerned about the unfortunate incident that occurred in 2014, resulting to loss of lives and others injuries,” the Oyo lawmaker stated.
In the bid to forestall recurrence of the unfortunate incidence, he noted that the House “need to know how prepared the Immigration service is for this exercise,’’ he said.
In his response, Ogu said that the Board was fully prepared having taking into consideration factors that led to the unfortunate incident in 2014.
He said that the forthcoming exercise was a continuation of the one conducted in 2014 where 888 applicants were recruited into the Service.
Ogu who disclosed that the planned 2017 exercise would be conducted to fill in a balance of 1,110 vacancies, however noted that the NIS was overwhelmed by the number of applications so far received.
According to him, for instance in Kogi, NIS has already received 54,000 applications for about 10 vacancies.
“This is a reflection of the high rate of unemployment in the country.
“Though six weeks was the duration for the application but the response so far is overwhelming and we are still receiving applications on our portal. You can imagine what we have from other states that are more populated.
“Meanwhile the Federal Government is concerned about the situation and once the budget is signed, the Board will embark on another recruitment exercise for the other Services under the Board. The Board is committed to ensuring a hitch free exercise,” Ogu told the Committee.
KEHINDE AKINTOLA, Abuja
