774000 Jobs: Applicants shortchanged in Akwa Ibom
…SSC Members, Bank Officials indicted
Information reaching us, has it that the FG Special Public Works Programme that was meant to provide 774,000 jobs for Nigerian youths, has been hijacked by some unscrupulous elements.
According to sources, names of successful applicants who had earlier been shortlisted and sent to various banks for final clearance and recruitment, have allegedly been ‘systematically’ removed and replaced by bank officials.
For instance in Akwa Ibom, thousands of applicants whose names were on the list, were shocked when their names suddenly disappeared at various banks when they went for verification.
Banks assigned by FG for this exercise include; UBA, Fidelity, Zenith, Access and Heritage.
It would be recalled that the President Buhari-led Federal Government had some months earlier announced the commencement of Special Public Works Programme aimed at employing 774,000 citizens, a thousand from each of the 774 local government areas in the country.
Akwa Ibom got 31,000 slots across the 31 LGAs.
The announcement was made via FG official Twitter handle.
About N52 billion has been allocated for the Special Public Works Programme in the 2020 budget.
The National Directorate of Employment (NDE), according to report, is meant to implement the recruitment under a special works programme.
The Special Public Works Programme of the Federal Government has kicked off nationwide, but there are allegations that the State Selection Committees are horse trading with the exercise by shortchanging names of those recruited.
One of the affected persons in Akwa Ibom who spoke to this reporter, said the controversy surrounding the programme is an attempt by those who do not wish Nigerians well.
He said these persons were just out to thwart the goodwill of President Buhari for Nigerians in the implementation of the project.
With the commencement of the programme nationwide, it’s however not clear if the people of Akwa Ibom will benefit optimally.
Efforts to get the reaction of the chairman, State Selection Committee, Mrs. Catherine Udi, were unsuccessful as she did not respond to calls and text message sent to her.
