By Godwin oritse

There are allegations that the Presidency has hijacked the recent recruitment exercise at the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, as over 160 of the 200 applicants who scaled through the process were influenced by officials at the Presidency.

MMA Lagos.

Sources at the NPA told Vanguard that out of the 50,000 online applications received, only 5,000 were invited to write the aptitude test after which 200 of the applicants were penciled for employment

However, Vanguard gathered that the newly recruited fire fighters are yet to receive their letters of appointment weeks after the exercise ended.

It was also gathered that after 160 slots were given to the Presidency, the remaining balance of 40 new recruits were further influenced by the management of the NPA, the Ministry of Transport and the National Assembly.

The source at the NPA also said that while the management was taking the invited applicants through the recruitment exercise, some of the well connected applicants kept coming in with notes and letters from the Presidency, a development that changed the course of the entitre exercise.

The aptitude test according to the source, was written in the six geo-political zones with a view to avoiding the ugly outcome of the last recruitment exercise carried out by the Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS, last year.

In a sharp reaction, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Maritime matters, Mr. Leke Oyewole denied the involvement of the Presidency in the recruitment exercise saying that “the current Managing Director of the authority is not a man you can push around, he has a mind of his own.

“The Managing Director that I know is a man that cannot be coaxed into such unwholesome arrangement.”

Oyewole who confirmed the fact that the Presidency was aware of the exercise, added that influencing the employment of certain people will be a disservice to other Nigerians.

“Nobody in the Presidency can be part of an unholy arrangement against Nigerians, not the office of Chief of Staff nor any other office at the Presidency will be involved in such a thing.

Although, Vanguard could not get the list of the newly employed Nigerians, it was not certain whether the principle of Federal Character Commission was followed in the process of the recruitment exercise.