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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.
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2027: Tinubu Dares Obi, Atiku to Showcase Their Achievements in Office, Accuses Them of Abandoning Their Responsibilities
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President Bola Tinubu has criticised former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar over their political affiliations, questioning their leadership credentials ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Tinubu made the remarks on Friday during his visit to Akwa Ibom State, where he inaugurated projects executed by Governor Umo Eno’s administration and addressed supporters at a political gathering.
Although he did not mention either politician by name, he appeared to refer to Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, and Atiku, who joined the African Democratic Congress after leaving the Peoples Democratic Party.
Referring to Obi’s tenure as Anambra governor, Tinubu accused him of failing to tackle erosion in the state, contrasting it with his own claim of confronting the Atlantic Ocean during his administration as Lagos governor.
“One, who said he is in one party they call NDC, who is running for president. He ran away from erosion. In Anambra State, he could not confront erosion.
“I, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, I confronted the Atlantic Ocean. I claim it for you. Umo Eno confronted the erosion in Akwa Ibom and is working for, he is stable,” the President said.
Tinubu also questioned the political loyalty of a former PDP member who moved to another party, in an apparent reference to Atiku’s defection to the ADC.
“If a man that was, once upon a time, was a baby of PDP, became a father of PDP. And because of a little inconvenience, he ran away from that party. And formed a dangerous ADC in another party. Is that a leadership trait? Is that a leadership character? And he wants you to vote for him?” he said.
Obi governed Anambra State between 2006 and 2014, while Atiku served as Nigeria’s Vice-President from 1999 to 2007 under the PDP.
Atiku contested the 2023 presidential election on the PDP platform, finishing second behind Tinubu, while Obi, who contested under the Labour Party, came third.
Obi left the Labour Party for the NDC in May 2026, while Atiku joined the ADC as part of opposition efforts ahead of the 2027 election.
Tinubu’s reference to Anambra’s erosion problem recalls his 2023 presidential campaign promise to tackle the menace in the state.
During a campaign rally in Awka in February 2023, the then APC presidential candidate promised to address gully erosion in Anambra, saying he would handle it in the same way he claimed to have tackled the Atlantic Ocean surge in Lagos.
“I have come here to promise you development. We will industrialise Nigeria and Anambra State. You know me, I am the city boy of Lagos; I caged the Atlantic Ocean in Lagos; the way I handled the Atlantic Ocean in Lagos, I will handle the erosion menace in Anambra State,” he said at the time.
President Bola Tinubu has approved the long-awaited Ibom Deep Seaport project in Akwa Ibom State.
Tinubu announced the approval on Friday while responding to a request by Governor Umo Eno during a reception and rally held in his honour at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo.
The President, who was in the state to inaugurate projects executed by the Eno administration, said the development must promote inclusive growth, create economic value and bring progress to the people.
“Now, development must be even inclusive and reasonable, must bring progress and create economic value. I heard from my friend, my governor, my pastor, on behalf of the people and leadership of Akwa Ibom, request for Ibom’s deep-sea port,” Tinubu said.
After repeating the request, the President asked the crowd, “Will you vote?”
He subsequently declared, “Okay, It’s approved.”
The approval followed a pledge by Eno that Akwa Ibom would deliver two million votes for Tinubu’s re-election in 2027 if the Federal Government delivered the seaport.
“Give us Ibom Deep Seaport, we will deliver two million votes. This deep seaport is capable of unlocking the economy of the state, the South-South region and Nigeria at large,” the governor said.
Eno described the seaport as the most important economic demand of the people of Akwa Ibom, saying it would transform the state’s maritime, industrial and employment landscape.
He said the people of the state had remained loyal to Tinubu since 2023 and were asking him to fulfil his promise to build the facility.
Tinubu had, during his 2023 presidential campaign rally at the same stadium, promised to build the deep seaport, citing the Lekki Deep Seaport, developed during his tenure as Lagos State governor, as an example of what he hoped to achieve in Akwa Ibom.
Eno said the project, conceived during the administration of former Governor Victor Attah as the Ibaka Deep Seaport and Industrial City, had remained unrealised for decades despite featuring in successive presidential campaigns.
“This seaport would serve as a major transhipment hub. It will create thousands of jobs for our people. It will open Akwa Ibom to international trade and investment,” he said.
The governor also said Akwa Ibom had aligned with the Federal Government by joining the All Progressives Congress to attract greater federal presence and development.
He assured Tinubu that the state would mobilise support for his re-election in 2027, saying the seaport would be a major dividend of his administration.
*Says ADC’s leadership that produced him, other candidates illegal
A Federal High Court in Abuja has nullified the process that led to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s emergence as the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate for next year’s presidential election. FollowPolitics
In a judgment on Thursday, Justice Peter Lifu also voided the emergence of former Senate President David Mark, ex-Governor of Osun State Rauf Aregbesola, and others as ADC national officers.
Justice Lifu also voided the nominations of all ADC candidates for the 2027 general elections, holding that they emerged from the ADC’s illegal and unlawful leadership.
The judgment was delivered in a suit brought by an aggrieved ADC Deputy National Chairman, Nafiu Bala Gombe.
The judge upheld Gombe’s contention that David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola emerged as party leaders through an unlawful and illegal process.
Justice Lifu set aside all actions taken by the Mark-led leadership in the name of ADC, holding that they were unlawful.
Details shortly…
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