NAFDAC Secretly Recruits 103 Staff, Group Alleges; Releases Documents

A civil society group, Citizens of Impact has alleged that the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), has secretly recruited 103 members of staff inot the organisation.

Executive Direct0r of the group, Daniel Seun Olatunde, in a statement on Thursday said the organisation in defence of the secret recruitment said it got a waiver from the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation and the Federal Character Commission to carry out the secret recruitment.

The claim by NAFDAC according to Olatunde was contained in a swift response to its request dated November 25, 2016.

“In a bid to entrench social justice and defend the interest of ordinary Nigerians, Citizens of Impact invoked the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2011 on the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) on November 7, 2016,” Olatunde said.

He said the request was to obtain information following reports that the agency clandestinely recruited one hundred and three (103) members of staff in October 2016.

“We received a swift response dated November 25, 2016 with attached documents of waiver from the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation and the Federal Character Commission. Our stand is that government institutions MUST not abuse waivers to give room for nepotism and inequality.”

“By this statement, we demand that the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation and the Federal Character Commission put citizens first and allow level playing fields in recruitment to government agencies.”

“We also take this opportunity to remind the Central Bank of Nigeria, Federal Inland Revenue Service and Nigerian Prisons Service that our FOI requests dated July and September 2016 are yet to be complied with.”

See the documents below: