… Four PhD, 200 master’s holders apply as recruitment begins.
The Senate has slammed the Minister of State for Employment, Labour and Productivity, Mr Festus Keyamo (SAN), over reported claims made on the recruitment of 774,000 Nigerians for the Federal Government’s Special Public Works programme.
Spokesperson for the Senate, Dr Ajibola Basiru, in an interview with The PUNCH, described as false, a claim by the minister that each member of the National Assembly was given 30 slots in the ongoing nationwide public works recruitment.
This follows previous conflicts between the two parties over supervision of the recruitments process.
But following the President’s intervention, the crisis was resolved. Two weeks ago, the Chairman of the Extended Special Public Work Selection Committee in Rivers State, Dr Innocent Barikor, was quoted to have said that the minister had directed that every governor should be given 40 slots in each local government area, while each senator and House of Representatives member would enjoy 30 slots in their various council areas.
However, Basiru told The PUNCH, the the minister never gave 30 slots to each member of the National Assembly.
Basiru said, “We are not aware of any slot. We don’t want any slot. We did not ask for any slot and we were not given any slot.
“We will reject any blackmail from anybody. Nobody should use the issue of slots to blackmail us. We are not interested in the slots.
Meanwhile, the Ogun State Chairman of Special Public Works, Senator Gbenga Obadara, told The PUNCH, that four doctoral and 200 Master’s degree holders were among applicants in the state.
