Nigerian Legislative chambers have asked the President Muhammadu Buhari to remove the Minister of State for Labour, Employment and Productivity, Festus Keyamo, from overseeing the recruitment of 774,000 Nigerians for Federal Government’s Special Public Works through the local governments, saying that 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.
According to Opeyemi Bamidele, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, the Minister of State for Labour, Mr Keyamo erred in law by taking over an assignment which the federal parliament approved the sum of N52bn for the NDE to constitutionally execute.
“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 as the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, maintained that the NDE remained the agency recognised to implement the programme. “The Senate will perform its roles by monitoring its implementation very closely,” he concluded
At the House via a motion moved by the Deputy Minority Leader, Toby Okechukwu; and Nnolim Nnaji, titled, ‘The Need to Uphold the National Directorate of Employment Act in the Implementation of the Special Public Works Programme.’
Adopting the motion, the House “urges Mr President to direct the Minister of Labour recognised by the Constitution and the NDE Act, to live up to his lawful responsibility hence urged the Ministry of Finance “not to release any funds for the implementation of the special public works programme if it would breach the due process, Appropriation Act 2020 (as amended) as well as the NDE Act.”
