The National Civil Society Council of Nigeria states that its investigation reveals no significant issues of victimisation or marginalisation in the recent promotion exercise conducted by the Nigerian Communications Commission.

NCSCN’s executive director, Blessing Akinlosotu, communicated this on Saturday in Abuja while briefing journalists on the outcome of NCSCN’s independent inquiries into controversies surrounding the 2025 staff promotion examination conducted by the NCC and the performance of the new leadership.

“This matter has been dragged for too long and overheated; hence, the need to address the issues collectively in public, once and for all, under one roof, as a community.

“It is a fact that no human endeavour can be marked with absolute perfection; hence, NCSCN observed some gaps that require improvement and administrative reconsideration; however, there were no grievous issues of victimisation or deliberate marginalisation found.

“From our enquiries, almost all of the complaints are completely based on unfortunate and unavoidable circumstances resulting from the institutional framework and natural factors,’’ Mr Akinlosotu explained.

He listed some of the grievances of the affected staff, including alleged non-compliance with sections 14(3) and 14(4) of the Nigerian Constitution, as well as gross underrepresentation or outright exclusion of certain states and zones, while others are purportedly overrepresented, leading to an unconstitutional imbalance that undermines national unity and equity.

Mr Akinsolou stated that, specifically, allegations were made regarding the promotion from assistant director to deputy director, claiming that 24 workers were qualified, but only nine were promoted.

Akinsolotu said that independent findings from the NCSCN team showed that the promotion exams were conducted for all cadres of staff eligible for promotion in the Commission, without excluding anyone.

He said the findings showed that the exercise was conducted in line with the Public Service Rules, the commission’s organisational structure and manpower plan, with each cadre having a predetermined number of vacancies conforming to the number of personnel the commission could accommodate at each level.

He said the finding revealed that the exercise had even been proven to enhance professionalism towards achieving a more competent and productive workforce for the commission.

The executive director stated that the Department of Human Capacity, through its director, had already extended unreserved apologies to participants regarding areas of technical hitches and logistical failures.

(NAN)