N1.2bn Job Racketeering Rocks FIRS

The management of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) is currently enmeshed in job racketeering running into N1.2 billion bribery proceeds.

An investigation by CORRUPTION REPORTER has revealed that some senior officials of FIRS have been secretly selling job slots for N2 million each.

It was also discovered that those involved in the 600 jobs racketeering are enjoying the backing and protection of the top management.

This could explain why these senior officials of FIRS appear to have so perfected their skills in job racketeering that even the COVID-19 lockdown and restrictions could not stop them from the illicit trade.

The FIRS management has, however, in a reaction, denied the allegation of any job racketeering among its senior staff members.

Reacting through the director, Communications and Liaison, Dr Abdullahi Ismaila Ahmad, the FIRS dismissed the allegation as “outright lie.”

The allegation of job racketeering is, not only a case of bribery and financial crime, it is also a gross violation of guiding principles of federal character which are equity and fairness.

It would be recalled that in October 2019, the FIRS was fingered, along with other government agencies, in some job racketeering.

When the Senate launched an investigation into the matter in 2019, it was discovered that some agencies were selling a single employment slot for as high as N1.5 million, FIRS inclusive.

What the FIRS senior officials have, therefore, done in 2020 barely nine months later, was to hike the bribery fee.

The affected agencies in the 2019 job racketeering were, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS); National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA); National Space Research and Development Agency, and the  National Open University.

Others include the Federal Civil Service Commission; the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital; the Rural Electrification Agency and the Nigerian Navy.