Senate vows to probe DSS DG over lopsided recruitment

The Senate, on Thursday, endorsed the move by its committee on Federal Character, to carry out thorough investigation, on the alleged lopsided recruitment, recently carried out by the Department of State Services (DSS).

The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Federal Character, Senator Tijjani Abubakar Kaura, had during Senate plenary on Friday declared that his committee based on petitions received from concerned Nigerians on recent recruitment carried out by DSS, resolved to probe the exercise considered to be highly lopsided in favour of a particular state and section of the country.

Senator Kaura informed the Senate that the said probing of the alleged lopsided recruitment by the DSS and taking needed steps thereafter, would go a long way in restoring the confidence of Nigerians on the principles of federal character required for such exercise on the basis of equity, justice and fairness.

Accordingly, the Senate President, Bukola Saraki in his response to Kaura’s submission, gave the Committee the nod to go ahead with the probe and update the Senate with its findings.

“Your committee should please go ahead with the planned investigation on the alleged lopsided recruitment in DSS to right whatever wrongs that must have been committed in the general interest of all Nigerians,” he said.

Reports from the alleged lopsided recruitment exercise carried out by DSS last month, revealed wide disparity in state by state allocation of the 479 newly commissioned cadet officers.

While the Director-General of the agency, Lawal Daura, ensured that at least five cadets were recruited from each state of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, the scale was heavily tipped in favour of some states in the north.

It was alleged in the reports that only the minimum of five cadets stipulated per state finally entered the Service from Akwa Ibom, while 51 were recruited from Katsina State, the home state of President Muhammadu Buhari and the Director-General of the DSS, Daura.

Furthermore, the two most populous states in Nigeria, Kano and Lagos, were given 25 and seven, respectively, indicating that the recruitment was not based on the population of states.

According to reports, a breakdown of the newly commissioned cadet officers on geo-political basis revealed that 165 are from the North-west, roughly four times as many as those who were picked from the South-south (42).

The figures for the other zones are: North-east 100, North-central 66, South-west 57 and South-east 44.

By Ehisuan Odia….

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