Buhari and Ngige during his swearing-in as minister few months ago in Abuja
The Senate and House of Representatives Joint Committee on
Employment, Labour and Productivity on Tuesday, summoned the Minister of
Labour and Productivity, Senator Chris Ngige, over alleged recruitment
scam at the Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund.
According to Punch Newspaper,
the committee, while accusing Ngige of impunity and gross abuse of
office, cancelled all employments by the ministry between July and
September 2016, as the minister is to appear before the lawmakers on
Wednesday (today).
Also summoned by the National Assembly were the Chairman of the
Federal Character Commission, Shettima Bukar-Abba; and Managing Director
of NSITF, Umar Munir Abubakar.
The Chairman of the Joint Committee, Senator Suleiman Nazif, while
criticising the skewed employment allegedly overseen by Ngige, stated
that the exercise was in violation of the Federal Character principle.
“Employment is of paramount importance and the committee will
ensure that employment is done in a manner that reflects the principles
of Federal Character. I think there’s something going on in NSITF that
no one is willing to talk about.
"It is clear that the minister, Chris Ngige, is responsible for
these irregularities, impunity and anomalies, resulting in gross abuse
of his office and we’ll take action on it,” he said.
The chairman also urged the Senior Special Assistant to the
President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Ita Enang, to
brief President Muhammadu Buhari on the development which, he said, was
intended to indict the committee.
According to Nazif, Anambra, had 44 slots out of the 131 available,
with some states such as Katsina and Kwara getting one and none,
respectively.
“We want you, Senator Ita Enang, to inform the President about
it because he (Ngige) is trying to put this committee in trouble.
Anambra has 44, while other states have two or even one,” he said.
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