The Senate and the House of Representatives have asked the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to remove the Minister of State for Labour, Employment and Productivity, Festus Keyamo, from supervising the recruitment of 774,000 Nigerians for Federal Government’s Special Public Works.
Both the Senate and the House on Tuesday at their separate plenaries said the National Directorate of Employment should take over the exercise, while the Minister of Labour, Employment and Productivity, Senator Chris Ngige, should surpervise in line with the NDE Act.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Opeyemi Bamidele, brought the motion through a point of order, to the red chamber.
He said Keyamo erred in law by taking over an assignment which was constitutionally assigned to the NDE through the Revised 2020 Appropriation Act.
He said the federal parliament approved the sum of N52bn for the NDE to execute the exercise, but lamented that the labour ministry, through Keyamo, had hijacked it.
Bamidele said, “While recognising the supervisory role of the labour ministry, the Senate notes the need for it in respect of this programme.
“We will hold the NDE responsible both for the implementation of the programme and surrendering of accounts for money appropriated by the programme by the National Assembly.
“The revised Appropriation Act is a law binding on all arms of governments.”
The Senate subsequently resolved that the NDE should take full charge of the implementation, while the ministry would play a supervisory role.
The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, said the NDE remained the agency recognised to implement the programme.
He said, “The Senate will perform its roles by monitoring its implementation very closely.”
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