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Promotion Saga: Nigerian staff of ECOWAS seek Tinubu’s intervention in addressing the persistent injustice they face regarding promotions and recruitment within the organization
There are some anomalies observed in the just concluded promotional recruitment exercise. The reliable source insisted that since some of the actors in the unfolding saga are in the services of the Community, he will like to exercise some degree of discretion.
He said that Nigerians are being denied promotion to jobs that they are entitled and are eminently qualified for in ECOWAS by some top statutory officers who turn around and give such jobs to citizens of their own countries through unfair practices disguised as interviews.
Case in point, a managerial position that was meant for a Nigerian at the ECOWAS Parliament which was unjustly given to a Guinea Bissau citizen. The Nigerian in question headed her division for 22 years. In fact, she set up the division and ran its affairs till recently. The interview was supposed to be a formality for confirming her on the job. This is normally the practice in ECOWAS for staff who have acted in a position for a long time. The practice is also in line with a Nov/Dec 2021 Decision of ECOWAS AFC, ratified by the Council of ECOWAS Ministers of Foreign Affairs on giving priority, during shortlisting and interviews, to staff members who have acted in an advertised position for more than five years.
From our investigation, the staff has worked at the ECOWAS Parliament for over 21 years as a P4 officer (equivalent of Assistant Director in Civil Service) without promotion. The P5 position (equivalent of Deputy Director) that she interviewed for was advertised at least three times in the last fifteen years and each time she applied so that she can be confirmed on the job. But each time the process aborted halfway.
In 2020, another country tried to give the position to a citizen of their country but Nigeria intervened and stopped the process. However, we realized that Nigeria was not represented in the composition of the management succession committee that eventually interviewed the staff. It is worth mentioning that the only Nigerian statutory officer in ECOWAS is the Commissioner for Internal Services, a non-scoring member of the panel.
From our findings, the panel that interviewed the Nigerian staff member was chaired by the Auditor General of ECOWAS (an ECOWAS commissioner from Guinea Bissau) and coincidentally, the position was given to a citizen of his country (with lesser years of experience than the Nigerian). By so doing, the Guinea Bissau lady automatically becomes the supervisor of her former superior (from a very junior subordinate position).
Employees in ECOWAS are not necessarily promoted on merit or seniority. Junior staff are openly promoted over their superiors in ECOWAS Institutions, in most cases the victims are Nigerians. This anomaly has caused so much frustration for staff who have worked in the organization for several years.
We have it on good authority that the Guinea Bissau staff was smuggled into the list of interviewees just two days to the interview by the director of human resources of ECOWAS who is also a citizen of her country Guinea Bissau. Apparently, she was asked to make sure she attends the interview because of their country’s interest. We were also reliably told that the lady first turned down the offer because she just got a job with the Parliament and as such, was not interested. But both the Director of Human Resources and the Auditor General of ECOWAS admonished her for refusing to attend the interview. Under normal conditions, somebody who has just been employed and who is still on probation should not have been allowed to compete for a higher job meant for internal candidates.
What this means is that the interest of our country Nigeria does not matter in ECOWAS.
We were also reliably informed that an ECOWAS Parliament staff told some MPs (including some Nigerians) that he was present when a call came in from the Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament (Sierra Leonian) to the former Secretary General, directing him to represent him at the managerial interview and to make sure that he marked down the Nigerian in order to ensure that she was not given the job. In fact, it is believed that the panel members were also told that the Nigerian was not the candidate of her Institution.
Meanwhile, as we mentioned earlier, the Nigerian staff in question set up the Division from inception and she was the first and only staff of that Division for several years. She covered various statutory meetings without any incidence of incompetence. Besides, all other participants at the interview were by far her juniors in the ECOWAS system. Meanwhile, in preparation for the position, the staff member was sent on various training, from 2013 to 2022, to places like France, Morocco, Ghana, to mention a few.
Consequently, the group of ECOWAS Nigerians are calling on President Tinubu to urgently intervene in this matter in order to stop the blatant violation of the human rights of the Nigerian ECOWAS citizen. It is obvious that there is a smack of conspiracy amongst the members of the panel that interviewed her.
If we want to talk about illegalities, then we will bring to light the issue of the Speaker of Parliament who constantly employed his cronies to senior cadre positions without adhering to the rules guiding employments in ECOWAS. We as a news outlet believe that a fair working environment calls for same measures for every employee regardless of country of origin, language block, religion or gender.
Your Excellency Mr President it will be a slight to you and the entire nation that our citizens are being humiliated and violated under your watch. It is indeed an abomination for someone to work for over 22 years without a single promotion. What we will not do to our ECOWAS brothers should not be allowed to be done to our citizens right here in our country. An injustice to one is an injustice to all. Enough is enough.
President Bola Tinubu has approved a Federal Government delegation led by his Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, to represent Nigeria at the maiden Nigeria Diaspora Investment Economic Conference in Toronto, Canada.
The delegation includes Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum, Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo, Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani, Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang and Zamfara State Governor Dauda Lawal.
The conference, themed “Invest Nigeria, Thrive Abroad,” is scheduled to hold from August 12 to 15 in Toronto.
The development was announced in a statement issued by Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, on X on Friday.
According to the statement, members of the delegation also include the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu; Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Jumoke Oduwole; and Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.
Representatives of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigeria Revenue Service, Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission, Nigeria Export Promotion Council and the National Information Technology Development Agency are also expected to participate.
The statement said Canadian officials expected at the conference include President of the Treasury Board of Canada, Shafqat Ali; Ontario Minister of Citizenship and Multiculturalism, Graham McGregor; Ontario lawmaker Deepak Anand; Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown; Councillor Rod Power; and Ontario Minister of Women and Economic Opportunities, Charmaine Williams.
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Quoting the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NiDCOM, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the statement said, “The calibre of officials attending the conference demonstrates President Tinubu’s commitment to strengthening economic cooperation between Nigeria and Canada through trade, investment and diaspora engagement.”
It further quoted Dabiri-Erewa as saying the event “is more than a conference” and is designed as “an outcome-driven investment platform” that will connect international investors with “investment-ready” opportunities across key sectors of Nigeria’s economy while strengthening bilateral economic relations between the two countries.
According to the statement, the conference is being organised by NiDCOM in collaboration with the Nigerian High Commission in Ottawa, the Canadian High Commission in Abuja and other stakeholders.
It said discussions will focus on agriculture, technology, manufacturing, infrastructure, energy, healthcare and the digital economy.
Newsthumb reports that the Nigeria Diaspora Investment Economic Conference is the first investment-focused forum organised by the Federal Government through NiDCOM to promote economic partnerships between Nigeria and its diaspora community.
According to the World Bank, Nigeria is one of Africa’s largest recipients of diaspora remittances, with annual inflows amounting to billions of dollars.
…says action could undermine public confidence in electoral process
…insists anti-graft agencies must remain independent but avoid actions suggesting political interference
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Thursday directed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to immediately take steps to vacate a court order freezing the bank accounts of the Osun State Government, saying the timing of the action, just days before the state’s governorship election, could create the impression of federal interference in the electoral process.
The President said although he respects the constitutional independence of the anti-graft agency and had no prior knowledge of its action, he was compelled to intervene in the overriding public interest to preserve public confidence in the credibility and fairness of Nigeria’s democratic process. NigerianBusiness Coverage
The EFCC had on Wednesday froze the accounts of the Osun State Government, placing a Post No Debit (PND), on its First Bank account, alleging fraudulent handling of N11 billion ecology funds, intervention funds and Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).
However, in a personally signed statement issued from the State House, Abuja, President Tinubu disclosed that the EFCC had obtained the court order on August 5, 2026, freezing the accounts of the Osun State Government.
He said he was “deeply embarrassed” by the timing of the development, explaining that actions taken by federal institutions are often attributed to the President, regardless of whether he authorised them.
“It has come to my notice that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) obtained a court order on August 5, 2026, freezing the accounts of the Osun State Government. I must state that I feel deeply embarrassed not by the EFCC’s exercise of its mandate backed by a court order, but by the timing of the agency’s action.
“This is so because every action taken by an institution of State, especially at the Federal level, is always credited to me, as the President, even when I may not have had any prior knowledge of the action”, the President said.
Tinubu reiterated his long-standing policy of allowing anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies to carry out their statutory responsibilities without political interference, stressing that he had deliberately refrained from directing the operational activities of the EFCC and other investigative bodies since assuming office.
He said, “since assuming office, I have consistently maintained that anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies must be allowed to discharge their statutory responsibilities independently, professionally, without fear or favour, or political interference.
“I have therefore deliberately refrained from directing or interfering in the operational activities of the EFCC or any other investigative or prosecutorial agency because I firmly believe that strong democratic institutions, operating within the confines of the law, are indispensable to democratic good governance and the rule of law”, he said.
The President maintained that institutions established by law should be allowed to exercise their powers independently and without requiring presidential approval for routine operational decisions.
However, he said the circumstances surrounding the EFCC’s action required presidential intervention because of the proximity of the Osun governorship election.
“As President, I am committed to allowing institutions of State to function and take any action they consider necessary in the interest of proper governance without the need for any prior approval. Indeed, that is why institutions are set up by law with clearly defined powers.
“While I am yet to be fully apprised of the facts which informed the action of EFCC in approaching the court to obtain the said order freezing the Osun State Government account, I am not in the slightest doubt that the timing of the action of EFCC is inauspicious, and therefore I feel compelled to intervene”, he said.
The President warned that no action by any federal agency should create the perception that the Federal Government was attempting to influence the outcome of the forthcoming governorship poll.
“Osun State is only a few days away from its gubernatorial election. Therefore, nothing ought to be done to give an impression that the EFCC or indeed any other agency of the federal government is being used to interfere with the election”, he stated.
Tinubu said preserving public confidence in the integrity of the electoral process was paramount, adding that he was duty-bound to act in the national interest.
“Based on the foregoing premise, I am duty-bound to issue a directive on this issue in consonance with the overriding public interest in preserving public confidence and the integrity, credibility, and fairness of our democratic process”, he said.
The President consequently directed the anti-graft agency to immediately reverse its legal action against the Osun State Government.
“Accordingly, I have directed the EFCC to immediately proceed to the court to vacate the order and discontinue whatever action it has instituted against the Osun State Government in this regard”, Tinubu declared.
A total of 308 kidnapped victims, including 176 residents of Woro community in Kwara State and 132 others abducted in Niger and Kebbi states, have been rescued in a coordinated multi-state security operation.
The successful operation, carried out by security agencies, marks a significant breakthrough in ongoing efforts to combat kidnapping and restore peace across the affected communities. Authorities said the rescued victims have been reunited with their families, while efforts are underway to apprehend the perpetrators and dismantle the criminal networks responsible for the abductions.
The rescue underscores the commitment of security agencies to strengthening intelligence-driven operations and ensuring the safety of lives and property across the country. Further details on the operation and ongoing investigations are expected from the relevant authorities.
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