Recruitment Scandal Rocks NPA As Bello-Koko Employs More Than 400 Workers ‘Secretly’

Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) is embroiled in a fresh crisis over the secret recruitment of more than 400 new employees without recourse to extant guidelines such as advertisements in national dailies to enable all interested Nigerians to apply.

A senior staff of NPA who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of victimization reveals that the recruitment was done “hush- hush” by the Managing Director, Mohammed Bello-Koko in contravention of the due process for conducting recruitments into Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) as established by the Federal Government.

The staff said an induction ceremony was also held “secretly” for the new employees at the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (ASCON) from January 25 to February 1, 2023.

Recently, the Federal Character Commission (FCC) warned MDAs against flouting laid-down guidelines for recruitment into government establishments.

Part of the guidelines stipulates that all vacancies in MDAs shall be advertised in at least two newspapers circulating nationally, giving prospective candidates a minimum of six weeks within which to apply.

There have also been questions about the placement of the new NPA employees on various grade levels, which was said to run foul of laid down procedures.

Mohammed Bello-Koko was appointed Acting Managing Director of NPA and named the substantive Managing Director of the agency on February 15, 2022.