FAAN recruitment: Successful candidates allege fraud in issuance of employment letters as MD sues for patience

Candidates, who said they were successful in the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, recruitment exercise of May 2015 but are yet to be issued employment letter, have sought the intervention of the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, the minister of state, Hadi Sirika, the FAAN Managing Director, Eng. Saleh Dunoma and the Executive Chairman of the Federal Character Commission Shettima Bukar-Abba. In a statement forwarded to Fidelis Chidi blog  on Wednesday, the successful candidates narrated that following their persistent questions on why their letters were not issued, they were last November invited by the Authorities to meet with senior officials handling the recruitment, who explained to them that the delay was being caused by a pending approval authorising FAAN to proceed with documentation, issuance of appointment letters, training and deployment of recruited personnel.


They stated that they relied on this assurance until rumours started making the rounds “that appointment letters were being issued secretly to candidates, some of which were not on the list published by the authority,” adding that “these rumours were confirmed at the most recent meeting held at FAAN’s headquarters in Lagos between representatives of the Authority and a delegation representing the successful candidates where we were told that a number of candidates had obtained Appointment letters through the influence of some top government officials and political office holders.”

Following the development, the successful candidates “now refute the explanation given by the Authority as shady, misleading and unacceptable as it has become clear the process is being hijacked by some powers that be,” vowing to pursue justice by all available democratic means.
But reacting to the development in a press statement forwarded to us, the General Manager of FAAN Corporate Affairs, Yakubu Dati who quoted the Managing Director of the Authority, Engr. Saleh Dunoma as disclosing that the successful Aviation security candidates who participated in the recruitment exercise will soon be invited for interview and other pre-employment procedure.
The statement issued on Wednesday quoted the FAAN boss as giving the assurance while he played host to some of the candidates in his office.
While expressing appreciation for the patience and understanding showed by the applicants, Dunoma explained that the seeming delay in inviting them for interview was necessitated by the need to observe due diligence in the employment procedure.

The agency’s MD further assured that successful candidates would be formally notified and invited in batches, for training and documentation, in line with international best practices for the employment of aviation security officers.
Meanwhile, the statement by the aggrieved candidates reads, “The process which began in February 2015 with a publication from the Authority inviting applications from interested candidates was concluded in March, 2015 after the recruitment test and interview was successfully held across various centres in Nigeria. In May, 2015, a list of successful candidates was first published on the official recruitment website www.faanrecruitment.­com and in some national dailies with an accompanying message stating that “All selected candidates will be notified of the dates to present themselves for documentation and further processing at the Human Resources Department, FAAN Headquarters, Lagos through publications in the national newspapers and on the website”.
“Consultations with the Federal Character Commission (FCC) confirmed that a certificate of compliance had been issued to FAAN by the Commission which validates the recruitment process satisfying the position and provision of the constitution governing recruitment exercises by MDAs which states that; “A Certificate of Compliance (with the FCC principles/­guidelines) shall be issued as final authorisation for the release of letters of appointment to successful candidates by the recruiting MDA (No MDA shall issue Letters of Appointment to candidates without this Certificate)” and allows a period of three (3) months as ultimatum for the issuance of appointment letters to successful candidates by the agency. The specified period expired as at the end of September, 2015 without the issuance of appointment letters nor official statement from FAAN. March, 2016 makes it six (6) months after the deadline with no public explanation from the authority.
“Disturbed by unpleasant rumours surrounding the outcome of the exercise and the perceived silence from the authority regarding the matter, the successful candidates have since written letters of appeal for intervention to the offices of the Honourable Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, the Honourable Minister of State for Transport, Hadi Sirika, the Managing Director, Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, Eng. Saleh Dunoma and the Executive Chairman, Federal Character Commission Shettima Bukar-Abba. On a few occasions, a delegation spooled from the list of successful candidates were invited by the Authority to meet with senior officials handling the recruitment, the first of these meetings held in November 2015.
“Explanations offered by officials of the Authority suggested that the delay was being caused by a pending approval authorising FAAN to proceed with documentation, issuance of appointment letters, training and deployment of recruited personnel. This was accepted as enough assurance until recently when rumours surfaced suggesting that appointment letters were being issued secretly to candidates, some of which were not on the list published by the authority.
“These rumours were confirmed at the most recent meeting held at FAAN’s headquarters in Lagos between representatives of the Authority and a delegation representing the successful candidates where we were told that a number of candidates had obtained Appointment letters through the influence of some top government officials and political office holders.
“In lieu of the recent developments, the successful candidates now refute the explanation given by the Authority as shady, misleading and unacceptable as it has become clear the process is being hijacked by some powers that be. We are resolved to pursue justice by all democratic means available to us.”