Concerns over UNIMAID’s recruitment scam

There is controversy at the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) over the circumstances surrounding the recruitment and documentation of some non-academic staff. There are allegations that while some of the staff members were recruited by the institution after clearance from relevant authorities, others allegedly paid bribes to be recruited. They reportedly paid N1m or more to […]

There is controversy at the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) over the circumstances surrounding the recruitment and documentation of some non-academic staff.

There are allegations that while some of the staff members were recruited by the institution after clearance from relevant authorities, others allegedly paid bribes to be recruited.

They reportedly paid N1m or more to some people entrusted to do the recruitment, but the alleged scam was busted during an enrolment of the beneficiaries on the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).

When the story of the scandal went viral on some online platforms, the UNIMAID management issued a statement distancing itself from the controversy.

UNIMAID’s Director, Radio and Public Relations, Prof. Danjuma Gambo, in a statement, said the IPPIS enrolment exercise being conducted by the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation was meant for employees who were not registered in 2020, and that the university did not authorise the issuance of letters of fresh appointment for the current enrolment exercise.

The statement reads in part: “The only individuals that are qualified in the ongoing exercise are those who had earlier been properly screened and issued with duly cleared appointment letters but could not be properly enrolled to the platform as required by the federal government.”

He explained that fresh job offer letters claimed to have been given to some applicants this year “were not from the university.”

Commenting on the allegation of the job scam in the institution, he said, “Individuals or groups that have given financial inducement or any form of gratification to any member of staff of the university in the name of the purported recruitment exercise should take necessary action to recover their resources from such unauthorised staff.”

Responding to the alleged inability of the university to conduct job interviews and advertise vacancies, as well as backdating offer letters, Prof Gambo said, “I am not aware of that.”

 

How trouble started

Daily Trust learnt that over 1,100 applicants who were given non-academic employment, including senior and junior cadre administrative positions, received offer letters in 2020 which were backdated to 2018.

However, some of the employees who received letters last year were not enrolled onto the payment system, while those that registered started receiving salary.

One of the beneficiaries said, “I was employed last year, but the IPPIS enrolment was stopped before it reached my turn on August 8, 2020, and we stayed idle without salaries at home until this year when the enrolment officials started on Friday, September 10, with junior staff. They worked over the weekend and eventually started registering senior staff on Monday.”

He further said when the IPPIS officials from Abuja arrived on Friday last week to complete the enrolment exercise, confusion ensued on who should be enrolled first between those who received offer letters last year and those employed thereafter.

The staff said, “In fact, a list of about 20 new employees was smuggled into the venue of the exercise on Friday, allegedly by a principal officer of the university, but another top ranking official who got wind of the situation arrived shortly and asked the enrolment officers to follow the exact course of the law by enrolling those not registered in 2020.

“The two senior officials exchanged words over the matter and at the end the exercise was delayed till evening when the enrolment of junior employees started.”

He added that the actual number and names of the employees were neither pasted on a notice board nor made public, but that officials called out between 15 and 20 names from the list of new employees and conveyed them to a separate location in a bus where the exercise was done.

He explained that, “We do not know why the procedure is somewhat kept secret, but the outcome seems unpretentious because the date of enrolment is what appeared on the slip given to all enrollees, not 2018 as contained in their offer letters. Nonetheless, the names of some employees were omitted from the list and those affected were asked to leave even though they have letters.”

According to him, vacancies were allegedly not advertised and panels not constituted by the university to screen credentials and interview applicants as obtainable in universities.

Other sources confided in Daily Trust that the governing council of the institution actually approved the recruitment done in 2020, but could not ascertain whether or not candidates were screened.

A woman who will not want her name mentioned, said she got to know about the recruitment exercise through her husband who was a friend to a staff of the university.

The woman said, “My husband informed me about the exercise and I submitted my CV. I was asked to go to the university and collect my appointment letter as a senior staff by telephone.”

She said she was neither invited for an interview nor any meeting regarding the exercise before she received the letter.

Another employee who was not enrolled on the IPPIS platform in 2020 said his job offer letter was backdated to 2018 just like those of his two friends, but that interviews were not conducted for the applicants, adding that majority of the new employees were related to people who were connected to some university officials.

He said many non-academic personnel were employed in 2020, alleging that more were being taken from time to time.

The source added that most of the newly employed junior staff had earlier worked on ad hoc basis before their contracts were terminated.

But a senior official of the university said the university obtained all necessary approvals from relevant federal agencies, as well as the governing council, before it conducted the recruitment exercise, explaining that some of the personnel were employed as replacements for dead staff.

The official further said the process of hiring employees on replacement needed not be delayed or advertised because a waiver was obtained from supervisory agencies.

According to him, the university also proposed to recruit 1,000 additional staff in 2021 to further solve the problem of manpower shortage and that approval was given by the university council, budget office and the Federal Character Commission (FCC), but that the response from the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation was being awaited.

He concluded that, “That was why the vacancies were not advertised in the national dailies since March.”

Speaking on the IPPIS exercise, he said over 300 employees who were not registered in 2020 were being enrolled in the current exercise.

The exercise was, however, suspended on Wednesday.

 

Sources of scandalous offers

Another source said letters of provisional offer of appointment were allegedly issued by officials in the office of the registrar of the university and others in the office of the vice chancellor.

He said, “One applicant who received employment letter from one of the offices I mentioned was told to leave the IPPIS venue because his name was missing from the original list given to the enrolment officers.

“My brother who was employed in 2020 was unable to do the IPPIS registration, and when the process was reactivated this year, he was shocked to be told by the enrolment personnel that his employment number clashed with another new employee, but they registered both and promised to sort out the list.”

An officer at the office of the registrar of the university said the recruitment unit which was headed by a deputy registrar and was in charge of inviting candidates for jobs, as well as screening their credentials, was actually jettisoned in the process.

The officer said, “We were not involved in the selection process; we only conducted documentation by way of taking and keeping the records of new employees. New employees come here for documentation only.”

He further said the governing council would summon an emergency meeting to discuss pressing issues, including the recruitment in question, but that the Registrar, Tijjani Bukar, who was the governing council’s secretary, might be exempted from the meeting because he was not around.

In another press statement yesterday, the UNIMAID’s image maker Prof. Gambo reaffirmed that the university management did not authorize any of its officials to issue letters of fresh appointments to anyone for the current enrolment exercise into the IPPIS.

“We equally wish to assure members of the public that the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Aliyu Shugaba, and his management team have zero­ tolerance for corruption or any form of abuse of office.

“The university management also wishes to  assure members of the university community  and,  indeed,  the  public  that  it  has no knowledge  of  any  employment racketeering,” he said.

The statement said individuals or groups with any complaints and/or evidence of any illegal employment, financial inducement or gratification against any staff to submit same to the vice chancellor.