Members of the House of Representatives have appealed to the federal government to reconsider the embargo it placed on recruitment into civil service.
The appeal came after a motion by Sani Bala was presented at the plenary on Wednesday.
The senator had noted that in 2019 President Muhammadu Buhari had placed an embargo on recruitment into federal Ministries, Departments, and Agencies.
Speaking on the effects of the pandemic on civil servants and the government’s continuous efforts in paying salaries, he said that the action of the FG had mitigated the effects of the pandemic.
He said, “This has no doubt helped to reduce the worsening effects of the pandemic in the country.
“In its attempt to address the adverse effects of COVID-19, the federal government instituted stimulus packages of N65 billion to assist a coalition of private sector operators.
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“The N50 billion survival funds were given to Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and N15 billion guaranteed uptake scheme to save 500,000 jobs, among other interventions.”
The senator pushed for a forward-thinking action that would insulate the country from devastating effects post-COVID-19, as many countries are mapping ways to gain economic stability after the pandemic abated.
Embargo, Civil Service
During the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government through the Minister of Finance, Budget and Planning, Zainab Ahmed, said that to cut cost, it would put a hold to recruitment into the civil service.
It cited the rise in the wage bill, adding that to support existing workers, salaries and pensions would be paid in full.
Ahmed said, “On recruitment, there is already an instruction to stop recruitment. What the agencies have been doing is replacement but even that is being suspended. When things improve, we will go back to the issue of recruitment. But for now, our wage bill is already very high.
“The president has directed that salaries and pensions must be paid unfailingly. So, we are not looking at downsizing in anyway. We are maintaining our workforce as it is. But we are just stopping the increase in the size of the nominal roll.”
