Reps urge Nigerian govt to lift embargo on employment into civil service

The House of Representatives on Wednesday urged the Federal Government to lift the embargo on employment into Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).

This followed the adoption of a motion presented by Sani Bala at the plenary.

In his motion, Bala said President Muhammadu Buhari had in October 2019 announced an embargo on recruitment in the MDAs.

He said the President had also maintained the federal government’s stand on the embargo due to the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the fall in global oil prices.

He, however, said the decision of the federal government not to sack or reduce salaries of its workers despite the challenges was encouraging.

The lawmaker said: “This has no doubt helped to reduce the worsening effects of the pandemic in the country.

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“In its attempt to address the adverse effects of COVID-19, the federal government instituted stimulus packages of N65 billion to assist a coalition of private sector operators.

“The N50 billion survival funds were given to Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and N15 billion guaranteed uptake scheme to save 500,000 jobs, among other interventions.”

He said the projection made by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, in 2018 that Nigeria would record an unemployment rate of 33.5 percent by 2020 was made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bala challenged the federal government to plan for the post-COVID –19 era by implementing measures aimed at revamping the economy and improving other socio-economic activities.

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