Job racketeering: NHSA DG allows 7 out of 11 Abia slots to own LG

Mr Clement Nze, the Director General, Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NHSA), says he gave seven out of 11 employment slots ceded to Abia to his Ummonochi Local Government Area of the state. Nze said this when he appeared before the House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee investigating job racketeering in Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government in Abuja on Tuesday. in a swift reaction, the Chairman of the committee, Rep. Yusuf Gagdi, said the committee frowned at the revelation that out of 11 staff from Abia, seven ere from Ummonochi LGA where the DG hailed from. Gagdi equally picked holes in the discovery that out of seven staff from Borno, three were from Askira Uba LGA, the same as the Director of Hydrogeophysics, Mr Stephen Jaboin, the agency. In his ruling, Gagdi directed the director-general to furnish the committee with a comprehensive list of staff spread by states, among other information. Also, the Executive Chairman, Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC), Mr Victor Muruako, while appearing before the committee said lack of funds prevented the recruitment of 173 fresh staff into the agency since 2022. He said the commission was given approval since 2022 to recruit 173 members of staff but due to lack of funds, the exercise has not been carried out. On the seeming lopsidedness in the nominal roll of staff of the agency, the executive chairman promised that the lapses would be redressed when the next recruitment is conducted. He said the last two recruitments carried out by the commission in 2010 and 2012 were done before he assumed duty as acting chairman, adding that though he was a director at the time. Reacting, Gagdi promised that the committee would make case for the Fiscal Responsibility Commission before the Budget Office to ensure that adequate funds were allocated to the agency to carry out its functions.