The Federal Government has issued a stern warning, threatening to impose sanctions on tertiary institutions found flouting the application of the federal character principle in staff recruitment.
This directive, deemed mandatory, was reiterated by Dr. Chuks Okoli, the Director of Public Affairs and Communication at the Federal Character Commission (FCC), in a statement delivered on Thursday in Abuja.
Dr. Okoli expressed the commission’s deep concern over the observed trend where certain federal tertiary institutions conduct staff recruitment exercises without adhering to the FCC’s guidelines.
The FCC, tasked with ensuring equity, fairness, and justice in line with Section 14 (B) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is disturbed by this development.
Furthermore, Dr. Okoli clarified that the circular issued by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) did not exempt federal tertiary institutions from complying with the Federal Character Principle. Therefore, any institution failing to abide by these regulations could face sanctions imposed by the federal government.
“Therefore, all the FCC guidelines must be strictly adhered to by any recruiting federal tertiary institution. For the avoidance of doubt, please refer to the commission’s handbook.
“Any person, MDA or federal tertiary institution, that carries out recruitment without abiding by the FCC’s recruitment guidelines and principles shall be committing an offence under Section 14, punishable under Section 15 of the act,” Okoli said.
