Make recruitment portal accessible, Reps charge Civil Service Commission

The House of Representatives on Wednesday charged the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC) to make its recruitment portal accessible to intending applicants across the country.The House resolution followed the unanimous adoption of a motion jointly sponsored by Hon. Henry Archibong (PDP/Akwa Ibom), Solomon Maren (PDP/Plateau) and Mustapha Dawaki (APC/Kano).

Moving the motion, Hon. Archibong expressed dismay that in spite of the high level of unemployment in the country, many qualified Nigerians have been unable to access the recruitment portal due to its non-functionality.

He stated that thousands of qualified Nigerians have over the past few days been trying to apply for the various positions advertised by the commission via (www.vacancy.fedcivilservice. gov.ng) to no avail.

“The commission is deliberately denying thousands of suitable qualified Nigerians, who wish to contribute their quota to the service of their fatherland through gainful employment in the respective Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

“This is thereby subjecting them through so much pain, stress and psychological trauma, due to inability to apply. The commission’s portal only opens sparingly between 2am and closes before 2.13 am, thereby making successful application practically impossible.

“Most of these prospective applicants are poor, dependent and do not have access to internet facilities and are at the mercy of cyber café operators who do not run a 24 -hour service.

“While those who do, go on to exploit these applicants before commencement and still make them pay even for unsuccessful completion of their application, knowing the portal will close before completion”, Archibong added.

The lawmaker described the non-functionality of the portal as a ploy by the commission to come up with the names of their friends and children of the high and mighty in the society as the only people who applied for the advertised vacancies, “thereby depriving the children of the poor and the federal government of willing and qualified hands to move the country forward.

“The Federal Civil Service Commission has already collected names of possible applicants without recourse to due process. If the House does not take urgent steps to stop this unwholesome practice by the commission, this nation will be deprived of good and capable hands to move forward”, he said.

Passing the resolution,the House further resolved that the commission should publicly declare the number of vacancies available and distribute same to states in accordance with the federal character principle.

Speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara referred the matter to the committee on federal character for investigation with the committee expected to report its findings in one week.