Weeks after the face-off between the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo and members of the National Assembly stalled the recruitment process of 774,000 public works jobs, President Muhammadu Buhari has intervened by ordering the Minister to go ahead with the exercise.
ait.live could not immediately reach the senior presidential sources confirming the President’s directive on the programme as quoted by some online news media, but Special Adviser Media and Communications to the Minister, Tunde Moshood gave authentication to the information a phone interview.
Keyamo had come in collision with the lawmakers over their insistence on playing a role in the recruitment process causing a face-off which led to the suspension of the programme by the leadership of the National Assembly.
The Minister’s spokesperson also confirmed that the President was furious, bemoaning the National Assembly’s knack for meddling in matters within the purview of the executive, after Keyamo had briefed him on the incident that transpired at the National Assembly.
The President was said to have asked the Minister to proceed with the execution of the programme and to ensure it is conducted ”strictly according to existing laws’, while ordering the Director-General of the National Directorate of Employment, NDE to halt any alternative plan on the programme with the National Assembly committee.
Moshood also alluded to the fact that the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister for Justice, Abubakar Malami has written to the National Assembly asking it to stay within the limit of its statutory responsibilities.
The 774,000 federal public works job programme is designed for the unemployed, uneducated and vulnerable Nigerians in rural area and it involves services such as street sweeping, waste disposal and the likes.
(Editor: Terverr Tyav)
