Job Racketeering in the Public Service: Reps Vow To Expose Perpetrators

The House of Representatives on had vowed to unmask those behind job racketeering in Federal Government establishments and public service.

The Representatives declared that the situation had reached a point where drastic action must be taken.

The Speaker, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal made this known at an Investigative Hearing on alleged employment rackets in the public service organised by the Committee on Public Service Matters.

He said that the rip-off of job seekers by officials of agencies had reached "a level that it can no longer be glossed over".

He said that the House would go to any level to unmask those behind the bribe-for-job activity.

Tambuwal said, "I am glad that we are finally getting to the root of this very serious anomaly".

He commended the chairmen and members of the committees on public service matters, labour, employment and productivity, anti-corruption, national values and ethics for their efforts in organising hearing.

"It is tragic that in a nation with such a high degree of unemployment, people can be so heartless as to make job-seekers pay for the opportunity of contributing their quota to the development of their father-land. Copied from: www.hotnigerianjobs.com

"This means that however qualified they are, unless they can cough out the bribe, they won’t get the job; this situation cannot be allowed to continue.

"We are denying our youth the opportunity to provide our country with the right manpower.

"We are throwing away any chance we have of staffing our ministries and agencies with the calibre of people that can translate government policies into action".

He said "this attitude has far reaching consequences on the quality of our civil service, their ability to implement policies and programmes.

"As the major implementor of government policy, only a more transparent system of choosing those who work in the civil service can guarantee efficiency.

"As long as recruitment is done using parameters that undermine the Constitution, we cannot hope to make any real progress as a country," Tambuwal said.

The speaker said that as the representatives of the people, they were determined to defend every Nigerian from all kinds of extortion.

Source: NAN