The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has inducted staff it hired after it got a recruitment waiver.
Speaking during the induction on Monday in Abuja, the Executive Secretary/CEO of NEITI, Dr Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, said about 2,300 applications were received including previous applications dropped at the agency through the Leave Application Behind (LAB) policy it had operated since 2010.
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“The waiver granted to NEITI by the Federal Character Commission (FCC) was informed by huge volume of applications the agency received in the course of the recruitment exercise,” he said.
With the waiver, it then shortlisted 166 candidates for interview of which 145 attended, 18 absent and three disqualified over NYSC certificate and irreconcilable age declarations.
Orji stated further, “From the assessment, 23 candidates scored 75 per cent and above and made the national merit list, while 36 others that scored between 70 and 74 per cent fell within the general merit. 82 candidates met the minimum score of 65 per cent. Four candidates who made the minimum score of 65 per cent were considered strictly to address equity in federal character representation.”
Chairman of NEITI National Stakeholders Working Group (NSWG), Olusegun Adekunle, said NEITI would be getting office space at its six zonal offices and needed more manpower to work beyond Abuja.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, Dr Toyin Akinlade, urged the recruits to do the right thing at all times and the reward will surely come.