Federal Character Commission does not promote mediocrity

Dr Shettima Bukar-Abba, the Acting Executive Chairman, Federal Character Commission (FCC), says the Commission does not promote mediocrity but ensures equity and fairness in executing its mandate.

Abba made this known during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday, in Abuja.

According to him, the commission does not interfere in the recruitment processes of organizations but ensures that organisations complied with their benchmark.

“When an agency wants to recruit, it is the organisation that announces the vacancy; the agency sets its template based on qualification, personality, experience, scores and others.

“If an organisation sets its benchmark score at 70 per cent and a Bayelsa man scores 70 per cent then a Lagos man scores 90 per cent and there are more Lagos indigenes in the organisation, the Bayelsa man has to be taken.

“But if the Bayelsa man scores 69 per cent which is below the benchmark, you have to take the Lagos man even though there are more Lagos indigenes in the organisation in order not to compromise merit.

“The commission comes in to observe the employment process by sending a commissioner alongside two senior staff to make sure that the organisation adheres to its own set benchmark.’’

According to him, the commission has developed guidelines over the years which are being disseminated to MDAs across the country to keep them abreast of the right things to do.

He said that from time to time the commission invites various MDAs at the federal, and state levels for interactive sessions to discuss various emerging issues and ways to address them.

He explained that before doing so, the Commission would demand for the nominal roll of the organisations, analyse them and during recruitment, advise them on how to comply with Federal Character Principles.

Abba said that the commission also frowns at chief executives who fill up positions in their organisations with staff from their geopolitical zones without merit.

He, however, urged chief executives to resist pressure by top personalities to influence the recruitment of unqualified candidates and as well as going against Federal Character Principles.

“We have a formula that in an organisation, at least two and half per cent of the total population must be given to a particular state and not more than three per cent.

“If the vacancy in an organisation is five slots and a state is highly represented, you do not need to give that state all three or four, you rather give one slot to the state.

“Preference must also be given to gender so that an organisation does not just fill all the two and half per cent with males or with females.

“You must look at it in such a way that there is balance in the employment process.’’

The acting chairman said that the commission was happy with the response from most MDAs as most of them were complying with the commission’s guidelines.

He, however, said that the commission had over the years detected and prosecuted recalcitrant MDAs that failed to comply.