The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) says it has received and investigated almost 100 petitions on recruitment scams from victim institutions and complicit individuals.

ICPC chairman Bolaji Owasanoye disclosed this at the policy dialogue on ‘Entrenching Transparency in Public Service Recruitment Process in Nigeria’ on Tuesday in Abuja.

“To underscore the corruption prevalent in the process, ICPC has received and is investigating almost 100 petitions on recruitment scam from innocent victims,” he said.

Mr Owasanoye, who lamented the recruitment process in public service, said the indiscriminate process had continued due to a lack of transparency.

“In actual fact, many Nigerians in both official and non-official quarters have expressed serious concerns over the growing patronage system in the public sector,” explained the ICPC boss. “There is near consensus across our country and across all political divides that there is a lack of transparency in public service recruitment process across all tiers of government in our country.”

Mr Owasanoye noted recruitment scams had further burdened the government’s wage bill, rising from N1.832 trillion in 2015 to N3.494 trillion in 2022.

The ICPC boss further recalled that Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno recently raised a serious concern that the recruitment into the security agencies (Nigeria Police and others) had been politicised.

(NAN)