President Muhammadu Buhari has reportedly given the Minister of State, Labour and Employment, Mr. Festus Keyamo, approval to go ahead with the recruitment process of the 774,000 jobs across the country under the government Special Public Works programme (SPW).
Keyamo stated that he was given fresh instruction on Tuesday, 14 July 2020 by Mr President to proceed with the recruitment exercise.
Keyamo said: “I have fresh instructions to proceed with the program as directed by him and to continue to supervise the program in accordance with law.”
“I stress it, in accordance with law.”
Recall that Keyamo and lawmakers had been at loggerheads over the implementation of the programme, resulting in members of the National Assembly joint committee, Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, calling for the suspension of the programme.
The lawmakers had faulted Keyamo who had inaugurated the committees made up of 20 people in each state, for not seeking their input before putting together members of the 20-man states selection committees who were inaugurated in June this year.
After that, the Joint Committee on Labour, Productivity and Employment of the National Assembly announced the suspension of the programme and directed the Director-General of the National Directorate of Employment, NDE, to take control and bring how he intends to execute the programme to the parliament.
Keyamo lamented that some politicians had been making efforts to hijack the programme and vowed not to succumb to any form of blackmail in executing the special public work programme. He emphasized that the legislature will not dictate to the executive, adding that the action of the National Assembly on the execution of the programme was an affront on President Buhari.
However, according to the Cable, President Buhari was said to be angry, bemoaning the national assembly’s penchant for meddling in matters on the purview of the executive.
He was said to have told the minister to go ahead with the execution of the programme and to make sure it is conducted ”strictly according to existing laws”.
The President also asked the Director-General of the NDE to stop any alternative plan on the programme with the national assembly committee.
Comments are closed.