Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, has said that only the National Directorate of Employment will be in charge of the planned recruitment of 774,000 youths across Nigeria.
The proposed recruitment is part of the Federal Government’s COVID-19 palliative measures.
He said that the NDE and the Ministry Labour and Productivity must first explain the modalities for the recruitment process.
Lawan stated this during an interactive session with journalists in Abuja on Monday.
The Senate President said, “Only NDE will implement this programme. The NDE led by the ministry of labour will have to come and explain.
“It will be unfair to say that we in the legislature and executive are not on the same page because of an action by someone in the executive.
“What the National Assembly is insisting on is in national interest.”
Last week, the National Assembly had asked President Muhammadu Buhari to suspend the programme, following a confrontation between the Ministry’s Minister of State, Festus Keyamo and the joint panel of its two chambers.
National Assembly members had last Tuesday walked out the Minister of State for Labour, Festus Keyamo, following his refusal to apologise after the legislators accused him of raising his voice against them.
The incident happened at an investigative hearing organised by the National Assembly Joint Committee on Employment, Labour and Productivity.
Members of the joint panel had summoned the Minister and the Director-General of the National Directorate of Employment, Nasiru Argungu, to brief them on steps so far taken to recruit 774,000 across the country.
Keyamo had told the panel how he had set up a 20-member committee in each state to midwife the programme.
Trouble started when lawmakers queried Keyamo for allegedly engaging in lopsided recruitment without the active involvement of the NDE, the agency that got N52bn approval from the National Assembly to implement the programme.
The argument that ensued afterwards, led to a shouting match between both parties which later forced the lawmakers to drive Keyamo out of the meeting.