The Nigerian Ambassador/Permanent Representative to the Economic Community of West African States, Musa Nuhu, has written to the Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Dr Sidie Tunis, revolting against what they allege as lopsidedness in the recruitment conducted by the regional legislative body.
This was part of a letter from Nuhu was dated July 20, 2022, and titled, “Formal complaint about unfair treatment and confirmation of staff at the ECOWAS parliament.” They are of the view that Nigerian applicants had been unfairly considered for the jobs.
Nuhu’s letter to Tunis partly read, “I have the honor to refer to our verbal discussion on the above subject matter and formally inform you that the attention of the Permanent Mission of Nigeria to the ECOWAS Commission has been drawn to a number of complaints by Nigerian staff working at the ECOWAS Parliament. The grievances border around stagnation and overlooking of staff already working in the parliament in favor of outsiders in the ongoing recruitment for divisional heads and professional staff.
“This action directly contravenes the recommendations of the 30th meeting of the ECOWAS Administrative and Finance Committee as well as the position of the Council of Ministers, which directed that internal candidates should be prioritized in filling existing vacancies in ECOWAS institutions, as recommended in the Staff Skills Audit Report.
“The Honorable Speaker may kindly wish to note that the mission has examined the complaints of the staff of the parliament based on existing staff regulations as well as the decisions and guidelines given by the AFC and Council of Ministers for ECOWAS institutions to carry out the recruitment and found that their grievances are genuine.
“Therefore, as you rightly observed during our discussions, recruiting individuals outside the system to place them above the existing staff would only lead to discontent, demoralization and continued stagnation of the staff. This will inevitably affect the overall performance of the Parliament
