The House of Representatives, on Wednesday, mandated its Committees on Petroleum Upstream and Federal Character to investigate the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) and the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) over alleged lopsided recruitment exercises done by the agencies.
The House also urged NEITI and NUPRC to cancel the said recruitment exercises if found not to be in tandem with observance of Federal Character principles.
S/East gets lion’s share of NEITI’s controversial recruitment
Portal to track real owners of oil, other coys ready soon – NEITI
The resolution followed the adoption of a motion by Rep Ibrahim Muhammed Hafiz Kawu on the need to probe the alleged lopsidedness in the recent recruitment exercises by NEITI and NUPRC.
The move by the House is coming barely 48 hours after Daily Trust published an investigative report on how the South East Zone of the country got the highest share of allocation in the recent recruitment of 70 new staff by NEITI.
The lawmaker in his motion said NEITI and NUPRC are guided and regulated by the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
He also noted that the agencies are bound by law to comply with federal character principles in all recruitments and employments.
The lawmaker said the alleged concentration of the agencies employments in a particular state/region of the country without recourse to the principle of the federal character, fairness, equity and justice has been generating public outcry, hence, the motion.
The House mandated the committees to conclude its work and report back within three weeks.
