Spokesperson ‘too busy’ to know about Senate recruitment scandal

The Nigerian Senate spokesperson, Adedayo Adeyeye, has feigned ignorance over reported secret allocation of employment slots to members of the National Assembly.

Mr Adeyeye was addressing journalists at the National Assembly on Thursday when he said he was not aware of the trending matter.

His reaction came hours after Daily Trust reported that the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, allegedly secured 26 job slots for his constituents from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).

According to the report, some senators are threatening a showdown over the sharing formula of the employment slots given to them by the federal agency.

The slots were allegedly shared among the 10-member body of principal officers, Punch Newspaper reported days earlier.

The paper said many of the lawmakers are bitter that their leaders shared the 100 slots allegedly given the Senate by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) among themselves.

The Senate spokesperson, however, claimed to have no knowledge of the job scandal.

The lawmaker who claimed to have been very busy over the past few days, said he has not checked the internet.

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“I am supposed to issue facts. Honestly, I am just hearing about this matter. I am not aware of it. I will make contact with the committees to get the gist of their investigation. For now, I can’t say anything about it. I have not been in Abuja.

“Let me tell you, I have been extremely busy. I don’t even have the time to check my internet at all. That’s the truth. I don’t have anything to say about this story. I need to conduct my own investigation,” he said.

The chairman of the Senate Committee on Federal Character, Danjuma La’ah, had told journalists on Tuesday that the committee is investigating the secret recruitment.

He also said some agencies had been secretly recruiting staff without advertising the vacancies.

Some of the federal agencies involved are FIRS, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency and National Open University.