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Only Buhari can stop recruitment of 774,000 labourers – Keyamo
BY KAZIE UKO
Minister of State Labour, Festus Keyamo, has said that only the president, Muhammadu Buhari, can stop the recruitment of 774,000 labourers, a federal programme aimed at employing 1,000 unskilled workforce from each of the 774 local government areas across the federation.
Keyamo’s affirmation followed a statement on Wednesday by the National Assembly suspending the recruitment exercise under the Special Public Works programme.
The programme became controversial following a rancorous meeting between a joint committee of the National Assembly and the minister, whose office is charged with the supervision of the recruitment, to clear out some grey areas.
The spokesperson of the Senate, Dr Ajibola Basiru and his counterpart in the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, who announced the suspension, said President Buhari could challenge the decision in court.
In a statement they jointly issued, the federal lawmakers said they took the decision following the disagreement between the National Assembly committees and the Minister of State for Employment, Labour and Productivity, Mr Festus Keyamo, on Tuesday.
They added that their decision was based on the fact that the programme did not exclusively belong to the President or the Executive arm of government.
They said it was jointly conceived by the executive and the legislature and that they could not be kept in the dark over its implementation.
But Keyamo in a response to the National Assembly urged all the Selection Committees already appointed at the various state levels by the federal government to coordinate the recruitment exercise to proceed with their assignment, saying only President Buhari can stop their work.
He narrated: “In obedience to their invitation, I appeared before the Joint Committees on Labour of both the Senate and the House. The Distinguished Senators and Honourable Members sought to be briefed on the implementation of the Special Public Works Programme so far.
“However, there was a misunderstanding between us when they questioned why I did not privately submit the program to them for vetting before taking certain steps. They suggested that they ought to have an input on how the programme should be implemented. In other words, they sought to control the programme as to who gets what, where and how.
“However, I insisted that I could not surrender the programme to their control since their powers under the constitution does not extend to that. They insisted on a closed-door session.
“At this point, I remarked that it was only fair for me to respond to their position before the press, since their own position was also made public. In any case, I remarked that the Nigerian people deserve to know the details of the execution of this all-important programme.
“I was then asked to apologize for insisting on a public interaction and I said there was nothing to apologize about, because their powers to expose corruption provided for in section 88 of the Constitution cannot be exercised in private. As such, there was no need to apologize by insisting on a Constitutional provision. Even their Rules that may provide for private hearings on public matters cannot override the provisions of the Constitution.
“I was then permitted to leave. I took a bow and left. I NEVER walked out on the respected Committees as they may want to bend the narrative.
“After I left, I understand that the Joint Committees purportedly suspended the work of the Selection Committees nationwide until they decide how the programme should be run and who should be in those Committees. My opinion is that it is tantamount to challenging the powers of Mr. President.”
The minister further affirmed: “I regret to say that their powers under section 88 of the 1999 Constitution is only limited to investigations, but NOT TO GIVE ANY DIRECTIVE TO THE EXECUTIVE.
“A Committee or Committees of both Houses do not even have powers to pass binding Resolutions. They can only make recommendations to Plenary. In this case, even Plenary CANNOT give DIRECTIVES to the Executive.
“All my life, I have fought for good governance and constitutional democracy. I will not come into government and be intimidated to abandon those principles. I will rather leave this assignment, if Mr. President so directs than compromise the jobs meant for ordinary Nigerians who have no godfathers or who are not affiliated to any political party.
“I therefore, respectfully further direct all the Committees set up nationwide made up of CAN, NSCIA, NURTW, Market Women, CSOS, Youth Organisations, respected traditional rulers, etc to proceed with their work unhindered. Only Mr. President can stop their work.”