House of Representatives has ordered the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to follow the directive by former President Goodluck Jonathan and offer letters of appointment to 176 Nigerians injured during their recruitment excises.
The lawmakers also directed that 48 members of the deceased families be deployed and their salaries effected.
The House gave the directives yesterday while adopting the report of the Femi Gbajabiamila-led three man panel that probed the ill-fated recruitment exercise into the NIS in 2013.
The lawmakers blamed the supremacy battle between the presidential committee set up by Jonathan and the Civil Defence, Fire, Immigration and Prisons Board on the appointment, for the disregard of the presidential directive.
The House of Representatives’ action was sequel to a petition by a victim on the non-implementation of the presidential directive.
The House further said others injured, but excluded by the report of the Department of State Services (DSS) should also be given letters of appointment after due diligence on their claims.
The lawmakers, while adopting the report at the Committee of the House, chaired by Deputy Speaker Yussuff Lasun, lamented that the presidential committee veered from its mandate by embarking on illegal recruitment.
The said it uncovered a breach of the terms of reference of the presidential committee when it “suo moto and without recourse to the board, embarked on another recruitment exercise”.
The committee also discovered that there was contradictory information from the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior, who briefed the committee that the board was not carried along in the recruitment exercise.
But the House committee obtained evidence from a candidate, who tendered an appointment letter issued by the Civil Defence, Fire, Immigration and Prisons Board for an immigration service job.
The ministry’s permanent secretary was blamed for misinforming the committee that there was a court case on the recruitment exercise.
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