Senate probes MDAs’ compliance with federal character principle

The Senate has mandated its Committee on Federal Character and Inter-Governmental Affairs to investigate the compliance by ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) with federal character principle, in line with sections 14(3) and 14 (4) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

The upper chamber said the investigative hearing was to ensure fair and equitable representation across all zones and ethnic groups in appointments, promotions and recruitment.

The resolution followed the adoption of a motion sponsored by Osita Ngwu (PDP-Enugu) at plenary on Tuesday in Abuja.

Mr Ngwu, in the motion entitled: “Urgent need to address systemic abuse and ineffective implementation of federal character principle in Nigeria’s public sector”, said systemic abuse had become a major challenge to achieving balance and equity within Nigeria’s public service.

He said the challenge was due to limited recruitment opportunities, skewed promotions based solely on years of service and insufficient avenues for worker mobility outside the public sector.

According to him, the federal character principle mandates fair representation in federal appointments to reflect the linguistic, religious and geographic diversity of the country.

Mr Ngwu quoted section 14(3) and (4) of the constitution as stipulating that “no predominance of persons from a few states or a few ethnic or sectional groups should exist within the federal government or its agencies.

He said despite the focus on geographical quotas, imbalances still persisted with some institutions, often relocating problems rather than resolving them, while certain zones remained under-represented.

The senator expressed concern that the process of addressing public sector disparities had been undermined by institutional inertia and lack of accountability.

This, he said, was particularly prevalent in the area of recruitment at senior levels and influenced more by internal preferences than by merit and fairness.

“The quota system has, in many cases, created confusion between merit-based recruitment and equitable state representation, to the detriment of discipline, morale and institutional efficiency,” he said.

The lawmaker said that the constitutional criteria for equitable distribution of employment required each state to contribute its proportionate quota of 2.75 per cent to the national workforce.

“The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) account for 1.00 per cent of the workforce, while catchment areas are to address localised recruitment for junior staff up to 75 per cent of positions,” he said.

He also said that Order 96(27)(b) of the Senate Rule 2023 and sections 62, 88, 89, 143-(4) of the constitution gave its committee power of legislative oversight on matters relating to the implementation and monitoring of policy on federal character.

Mr Ngwu alleged that various federal institutions had consistently failed to adhere to federal character mandates, often by-passing regulations in their recruitment exercises, adding that pieces of evidence abound.

He listed some of the agencies, including Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and its subsidiaries, such as the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).

Others, he said, were NAFDAC, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), National Pension Commission (PenCom), Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) and the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA).

He also listed the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), the Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN), the Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA) and the National Library of Nigeria (NLN) among those flouting the federal character principle.

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He said that the contempt emanating from the foregoing, if unchecked, would continually erode the efficacy of section 14(d)(e) of the Legislative Houses Powers and Privileges Act, 2017, Part 1(1)-(2) of the Subsidiary Legislation 23 of 1997 and section 11(2) of the Freedom of Information Act, 2011.

Mr Ngwu expressed concern that the Federal Character Commission (FCC), although constitutionally empowered, remained hindered by chronic underfunding, political interference and limited enforcement capabilities.

The Senate, following intense debates from Abba Moro (PDP-Benue), Adamu Aliero (PDP-Kebbi), Seriake Dickson (PDP-Bayelsa), Olalere Oyewumi (PDP-Osun), Victor Umeh (LP-Anambra), Anthony Ani (APC- Ebonyi), Adams Oshiomhole (APC-Edo), mandated the committee to turn in its report in three months.

(NAN)