…As Yakubu Implores New Employees to imbibe Transparency, Accountability
The Management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, over the weekend pledged its commitment to abide by the spirit and letters of the 2011 Freedom of Information Act in all its operations so as to entrench a culture of probity and accountability.
Speaking at the Induction Ceremony for newly recruited Graduate Trainees held at the NNPC Towers in Abuja, Group Managing Director of the Corporation, Engr. Andrew Yakubu, stated that ahead of the signing into law of the then FOI Bill by Mr. President, the NNPC had taken bold measures to open its operations to public scrutiny.
“Long before the Freedom of Information Act came into force, the NNPC has been maintaining an open door policy which sees it volunteering information to its various publics through press releases, advertorials and presentations at different forums including hearings at the National Assembly,’’ the GMD stated.
He informed that with the formal signing of the FOI Bill into law by Mr. President last year, the NNPC Management swiftly established a Task Force with the goal of examining the new law and advising Management on how best to comply with the provisions of the law.
“We have since internalized the contents of that report and as a Corporation, we are ready to ensure that our actions and processes live up to public scrutiny. Under my watch as GMD, I intend to abide by this principle,’’ Engr. Yakubu affirmed.
On the 2010 NNPC Recruitment Exercise which ultimately led to the employment of 595 new staff, the GMD described the process as the most painstaking and transparent recruitment ever conducted in the history of the Corporation.
He noted that the exercise which began with the placement of advertisement in some national newspapers and the NNPC website in November 2010 was designed from the beginning to provide Nigerians equal opportunity to aspire for available vacancies in the services of the Corporation.
“Subsequently, a record 269,376 applications were received and from that figure 44,239 candidates were shortlisted for aptitude test. On March 26, 2011, a simultaneous test exercise was conducted across nine Nigerian cities for 36,479 candidates representing 72% of shortlisted candidates. Of this number, 18% of the shortlisted candidates did not show up for the test. Further breakdown of the shortlisted 269,376 applications indicate that 4,173 or 1.5% were for Contract Employment while the rest applied for permanent position,’’ he stated.
Providing further breakdown, Engr. Yakubu informed that while 25 candidates were recruited under the Contract Employment category after series of interviews, for the permanent employment category, a total of 4,734 candidates were invited for oral interview at the NNPC Towers between 4 July, 2011 and 17 August, 2011 in the following numbers: Experience Hire 1,177, Graduate Trainee 2,627 and Operators/Technicians 930.
He stated that at the end of the exercise, of the 4,734 invited for the interview, 4,432 attended representing 93% attendance.
“With the assistance of Philips Consulting, a reputable Management Consultants, and our experienced in-house recruitment experts, a final figure of 595 candidates were adjudged successful and recruited after painstaking interview sessions and due diligence using the criteria of merit, catchment area and national spread,’’ he said.
A breakdown of the figure shows that 132 personnel were hired under the Experience Hire category, 347 under the Graduate Trainee programme while 116 were employed as Operators.
The GMD noted that in line with the Federal Character Commission (FCC) requirements, Management engaged the Commission for vetting of the recruitment exercise and after a series of interface, the Commission issued a Certificate of Compliance to NNPC thus bringing the exercise to a successful close.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, I have taken this pain to elaborate on the recruitment process just to prove to all that at NNPC, we have nothing to hide about our processes and procedures. In conducting the exercise, Management was guided by the rules of accountability and transparency and these ensured that we got the best from each of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory,’’ he stated.
He emphasized that while it is not practicable to have equal number of persons from each state, no state was left unrepresented in the final recruitment list.
“Even my daughter who is eminently qualified could not secure a space in the final recruitment list, that tells you how thorough, transparent and fair the process was,’’ the GMD stated.
Engr. Yakubu assured the new intakes that with the recent expansion of upstream and downstream activities by the NNPC, their future in the services of the Corporation will be filled with productive challenges as they contribute their quota to the realization of the Corporation’s core goals and objectives.
In his welcome address, the Group Executive Director Corporate Services, Dr. Peter Nmadu, disclosed that four of the new employees are physically challenged persons in line with corporation’s policy of giving equal opportunity to all categories of persons.