By Caroline Ameh
The Senate has directed its Committee on Federal Character and Inter-Governmental Affairs to investigate the level of compliance by Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) with the federal character principle in recruitment, appointments, and promotions.
The directive, issued during plenary on Tuesday, follows a motion sponsored by Senator Osita Ngwu (PDP-Enugu), titled “Urgent Need to Address Systemic Abuse and Ineffective Implementation of Federal Character Principle in Nigeria’s Public Sector.”
Citing Sections 14(3) and 14(4) of the 1999 Constitution, he emphasized that no region or ethnic group should dominate federal appointments. He expressed concern that despite the focus on geographical quotas, disparities persist, with some regions remaining underrepresented.
Ngwu in the motion titled “Urgent need to address systemic abuse and ineffective implementation of federal character principle in Nigeria’s public sector” said the “systemic abuse” had become a persistent challenge in achieving balance and equity within Nigeria’s public service .
He said the challenge was due to limited recruitment opportunities, skewed promotions based solely on years of service, and insufficient avenues for worker mobility outside the public sector.
The Enugu West lawmaker said the federal character principle, entrenched in 1999 Constitution of Nigeria as amended mandates fair representation in federal appointments to reflect linguistic, religious, and geographic diversity of the nation.
Ngwu said section 14(3) and (4) of the constitution, unequivocally stipulates that “no predominance of persons from a few states or from a few ethnic or sectional groups” should exist within the federal government or its agencies.
He said despite focus on geographical quotas, imbalances persists between institutions, often relocating problems rather than resolving them, while certain regions remain under-represented.
He expressed concern that the process of addressing public sector disparities had been undermined by institutional inertia and a lack of accountability, particularly as recruitment at senior levels is influenced more by internal preferences than by merit and fairness.
” The quota system has, in many cases, created confusion between merit-based recruitment and equitable state representation, to the detriment of discipline, morale and institutional efficiency.”
He said the constitutional criteria for equitable distribution of employment required that each state contributes its proportionate quota of 2.75 per cent of the national workforce.
“The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) account for 1.00 per cent of the workforce, while catchment areas are to address localized recruitment for junior staff up to 75 per cent of positions.”
He said Order 96(27)(b) of Senate rule 2023 and sections 62, 88, 89, 143)-(4) of the 1999 Nigeria as amended gives its committee power of legislative oversight on matters related to implementation and monitoring of policy on federal character.
He alleged that various federal institutions have consistently failed to adhere to federal character mandates, often bypassing regulations in their recruitment exercise, saying that evidences abound.
He listed some of the agencies to include the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), and its subsidiaries Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC),
National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
Others, according to Ngwu are the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), National Pension Commission (PenCom), Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA).
He also listed Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN),Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN), Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA) and the National Library of Nigeria (NLN).
He said the contempt emanating from the foregoing, if unchecked, would continually erode efficacy of section 14(d) (e) of the Legislative Houses Powers and Privileges Act, 2017, Part 1(1)-(2) of the Subsidiary Legislation 23 of 1997 and aections 11 (2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2011.
Ngwu expressed concern that the Federal Character Commission (FCC), although constitutionally empowered, remained hindered by chronic underfunding, political interference and limited enforcement capabilities.
Senate, following intense contributions of lawmakers to the motion, such as Senators Abba Moro,(PDP-Benue), Adamu Alero, (PDP-Kebbi) Seriake Dickson (PDP-Bayelsa)
Olalere Oyewumi(PDP-Osun), Victor Umeh(LP- Anambra),
Anthony Ani(APC- Ebonyi) , Adams Oshiomhole (APC-Edo), further mandated the committee to turn in its report in three months.
