Members of the House of Representatives, who are also members of the Economic Community of West African States Parliament, have raised the alarm over alleged non-consideration of Nigerian applicants in the ongoing recruitment by the ECOWAS Commission.
The lawmakers also alleged that the ECOWAS Parliament had passed a resolution to suspend the recruitment exercise, which the leadership refused, after which the House recently passed on resolution to review Nigeria’s contributions to and benefits from ECOWAS.
The House had on June 30, 2022, resolved to investigate the benefits that Nigeria has derived from its investments and contributions into the sustenance of the Economic Community of West African States and the member-states.
Members of the House had alleged discrimination and lopsidedness in the recruitment of workers at the ECOWAS Commission in Abuja.
Consequently, the House, following the unanimous adoption of the motion, mandated its Committees on Inter-Parliamentary Relations, ECOWAS Parliament, and Foreign Affairs to “appraise the benefits and contributions of ECOWAS towards the socio-economic development of Nigeria and Nigerians in the last 10 years, with a view to determining the justification of the Country’s financial contribution to the sub-regional organisation (ECOWAS).”
The joint committee was to report back to the House within six weeks for further legislative action.
Our correspondent, on Saturday, sighted a memo containing the list of applicants shortlisted for interview. The memo was from the Director of Administration and Finance to the Head, Human Resources Division, Bruno Achana. It was dated July 7, 2022, and titled ‘Travel and Accommodation Arrangement of Interviews.’
The list of shortlisted candidates, however, showed that there were 28 Nigerians on the list of 70.
The vacancies include Translator (Portuguese), P3/P4, whose interview date was July 18; Inter-Institutional Liaison Officer, P1/P2/P3, July 18; Strategic Planning Officer, P1/P2/P3, July 19; Assistant Budget Officer, P1/P2/P3, July 29; Financial Reporting and Treasury, P3/P4, July 23; Accountant, P1/P2/P3, July 25; Human Resource Officer, P1/P2/P3, July 25; Protocol Officer, P1/P2/P3, July 21; Parliamentary Research Officer, P2/P3/P4, July 22.
A member of the House in the ECOWAS Parliament, Dagomie Abiante, who spoke to our correspondent over the matter on Saturday, stated that it was not personal.
The lawmaker said, “I have written several letters. It is a Nigerian thing. The Deputy Speaker has spoken about this same matter. Having taken that motion, my name is there; it was a motion that was discussed and adopted. There was a motion (at the ECOWAS Parliament) before we even came to the Nigerian Parliament. That motion is biding on the international parliament. We have now come back home to say ‘let us do an appraisal.’ If we now do an appraisal and we think it is no longer necessary for Nigeria to continue being a member of the ECOWAS, we will adopt that report on the floor of the House and make sure that our own government withdraws from the parliament.”
