Reps tackle NIMR over ‘violation’ of federal character in recruitment

A house of representatives panel has tackled the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) for allegedly violating the federal character principle in its recruitment process.

Section 14 (3) of the 1999 constitution stipulates that “the composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few State or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that Government or in any of its agencies”.

At its sitting on Thursday, the house of representatives committee on healthcare services said some states have been left out in employment opportunities at the institute.

Tanko Sununu, chairman of the committee, said it is “gross injustice” for NIMR to exclude about 10 states from being represented in the institute.

“There are a lot of states that are not represented completely. You have over 300 members of staff; how many of them are from Kebbi, Sokoto, Zamfara and Kano? This is not acceptable,” he said.

“What happened that about six to 10 states are completely left out in your institution? The name (NIMR) starts with Nigeria and almost one-third of the states are excluded. This is a gross injustice. How do you think you can correct this?

“This is really embarrassing and something needs to be done. Please furnish us with all the existing vacancies. We will liaise with the Federal Character Commission, office of the head of civil service and budget office so that we can secure a waiver.

“This is to correct the injustice that is currently existing. The committee will not take it lightly if the waiver is not granted and the injustice is not corrected.”

Babatunde Lawal, director-general of NIMR, said the institute will make efforts to make adjustments in its next recruitment process.

“You did note this point during the last oversight visit and we noted it. But we have not recruited since then and so we have not had the opportunity to correct it. When we do have, we are going to correct it,” he said.

According to Lawal, the institute has not conducted recruitment since 2019, adding that the “abnormality” would be corrected upon next recruitment.

The director-general also lamented that the institute is understaffed and there is a need to employ more personnel.

He asked the lawmakers to increase the capital expenditure for the NIMR, saying the allocated amount in the 2022 budget cannot meet the needs of the institute.