Festus Keyamo, minister of state for labour and employment,
says members of the national assembly are trying to bypass him in the
recruitment of 774,000 citizens.
The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) is meant to
recruit 774,000 people under a special works programme.
The junior minister had engaged in a shouting match with
some federal lawmakers when he appeared before them over the recruitment
process last week.
Subsequently, the lawmakers put the recruitment process on
hold but Keyamo said they do not have such powers.
At a meeting, on Tuesday, Chris Ngige, minister of labour
and employment, apologised to Senate President Ahmad Lawan over the outburst of
Keyamo, who was also in attendance.
Responding, Lawan said the labour ministry would enjoy
legislative support as long as it is involved in the process.
The joint committee of the national assembly chaired by
Godiya Akwashiki, senator representing Nasarawa north, then directed the NDE to
submit a work plan on the implementation of the programme.
The panel asked the directorate to submit the plan on
Monday.
But speaking with journalists after leaving the meeting, the
junior minister said he would go back to President Muhammadu Buhari for further
directives.
He said the directives of the national assembly were not
binding on him.
“You can see that the whole struggle today has been how to
bypass me in the execution of this programme and I’m sure that you all saw
that,” the lawyer said.
“Now with the provisions of the law, how they are going to
do that, I don’t know, I have to go back to my principal which is the president
of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to give directives.
“By section 3 of the NDE act, I am the chairman of the
board. The minister is the chairman of the board of the NDE. When you say go
back and bring a plan, you are still coming back to me. Secondly, if you look
at section 15 of the NDE act, it said the minister may give directives of a general
nature to the NDE. In other words, you cannot have a work plan without coming
back to the minister.
“The third point is that by virtue of my appointment as a
minister, the president gave a directive in October last year saying that I
should go and supervise generally the activity of the NDE. I don’t see how you
will supervise an agency and they go ahead without approval, the bulk must stop
at a table.
“The fourth one, beyond the general mandate the president
gave, the president also specifically instructed me by memo in May this year
for me to go and supervise the execution of this project. How can you supervise
a project without your final approval. That approval lies on my table.
“Section 16(1) of the NDE act, by instruction of the
president, an inter-ministerial committee has already been proposed – which we
accepted – that the committee must drive the selection process. Section 16(1)
said the minister shall constitute committees for the NDE. The director-general
of the NDE has no such powers to constitute committees under the law.
“So when you say go back and bring a plan, are you asking
the DG to go and break the law? Are you saying the DG should disobey the
president? Are you saying the DG should disobey his immediate boss which is his
minister?
“I will go back to the president for directives. The
directives as to execution of a project is not binding on me. The directives of
the national assembly are not binding on me.”
The minister said at the end of the day, Abubakar Malami,
attorney-general of federation (AGF), would have to interpret the relevant laws
under contention.
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If every persons in authority can stand their ground when things are to be done in a right way i think things will be better in this nation Nigeria, Festus Keyamo you know what you are doing,you know your responsibility and you stand by it, God bless you. The Lord will continue to strengthen you
ReplyDeleteIf every persons in authority can stand their ground when things are to be done in a right way i think things will be better in this nation Nigeria, Festus Keyamo you know what you are doing,you know your responsibility and you stand by it, God bless you. The Lord will continue to strengthen you
ReplyDeleteI AM WITH FESTUS KEYAMO ON THIS. I REPEAT, I AM WITH FESTUS KEYAMO ON THIS. NO GREE FOR THOSE POLITICAL SLAYERS OOO!!!
ReplyDeleteThe president is too weak to allow festus stand such ground, its a rob my back and I rob yours too.Senate should be ashamed of their shows,they can as well let it lie bcos they brought keyamo to APC for a reason...
ReplyDelete