Senate wants stiffer sanctions for job racketeering

The Senate has resolved to enact a law prescribing stiffer sanctions to stem job racketeering and disregard for the federal character principles in employment.

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Federal Character and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Allwell Onyesoh, stated this at a meeting with management of Federal Character Commission (FCC) on Tuesday in Abuja.

Onyesoh said that Nigerians were used to reacting to employment issues using emotion without clarifying or investigating issue around employment process in Nigeria.

He said: “It is something that is very dangerous, a simple statement like, oh this thing is out we are not getting it.

“There is job there, they are employing secretly, is enough to cause problem.

“And the purview of FCC, hence we felt it is proper to call them and sit down, dot the ‘I’ and cross the ‘t’, make every of their activities more transparent, more glaringly clear for people to see.

“We want to open up the space.”

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He stressed that the essence of the federal character was to create unity, fairness and equity.

“You can’t have that if someone is feeling rejected, feeling not carried along.

“You must put some sanctions, if you want things to work, we are considering stiffer penalties, there must be consequences for everything.

“This is one of the few committees that derives its power from the constitution,” the chairman added.

Earlier, the Executive Chairperson of FCC, Dr. Muheeba Dankaka, said the issue of job racketeering was new to the office.

She also appealed to the committee to help the commission to upscale its budget given its enormous responsibility.

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