LAGOS, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- A House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee has commenced investigation into an alleged “secret” recruitment of 300 staff by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
The committee flagged the appointments due to the use of waivers by the management of the board instead of advertising the vacancies.
The query was issued on Monday when the Registrar of JAMB, Ishaq Oloyede, appeared before the committee.
Oloyede informed the committee that the board conducted five recruitment exercises between 2015 and 2023 to fill vacancies created due to retirement.
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“If we were to advertise for the 300 slots, we would not be able to meet what we needed them for. I call your attention to the letter we wrote to the agency (FCC). That was the period we had about 12 to 13 centres coming on board and we needed to man them,” Oloyede said.
Reacting to this, Chairman of the panel, Yusuf Adamu Gagdi said waivers were being abused and being used to deny qualified Nigerians opportunities to get jobs.
He queried, “Why did you choose to apply for a waiver when you are recruiting 300 and the law says only if the number is below 100? Why did you use a waiver for the recruitment of over 300 staff?
“You employed 300 staff without advertisement. That is against the law. It short-changed millions of Nigerians that should be given equal opportunity in terms of the employment process.”