News

Job Racketeering in Nigerian Public Institutions a.k.a. Slot Buying

Published

1 year ago

July 23, 2024

When it is time to fill up the vacancies, we see announcements on the federal agency websites. News websites and blogs equally pick up the stories. Forums such as Nairaland will see multiple threads concerning the ‘latest recruitment openings’ into so, so, and so Nigeria Commission. While many rejoice, some are out to condemn the recruitment system for being incompetent, biased, and susceptible to influence by the highest bidder. Will racketeering ever allow the most
qualified candidates to secure the job? What Nigerians commonly call slot buying is the order of the day during recruitment into the civil service. Even a legit slot is hard to come by. When you find one, depending on the available position, a willing applicant is looking at spending at least
300,000 and up to 2 million naira.

Work and School,, a Nigerian-based website that specializes in picking up recruitment announcements found that job racketeering is the virus discouraging the right talents from
applying for a spot in public service. If we do not have skilled minds and hands in public offices, how can we experience the ‘change’ different government administrations have been preaching years after the country’s independence? Agreed, a qualified candidate for the job is not the sole solution, but it could go a long way in national service.

Nigeria and Its Middleman Mentality

Nigerians love to take advantage. It also seems that from the top to the lowest civil servants, many want a cut. That is why, if an applicant manages to find a slot vendor, they are typically
middlemen. The honest ones will say, “I know someone who knows someone” (referring to those in positions who can fix in names where the beholders are ready to commit something ‘cash’ to be shortlisted). Someone will want the applicant to believe that they are in control of the
shortlisting of names, and can guarantee their bidder’s name.

This takes us to the term ‘arbitrage’, which Work and School found to be the new business of recruitment in Nigeria. This is also the reason for expensive slots, especially concerning federal jobs. Here, Servant B buys multiple slots beforehand from Servant A, and then retails them for
three to five times the amount—that is the arbitrage of recruitment into Nigerian federal agencies with good returns.

As for the cost of slots, it is typically at least 300,000 naira and as much as 2 million naira, and sometimes more. Depending on the vendor, the money may be deducted from the applicant’s monthly salary until the payment is complete.

As for the payment method, it is usually in cash. This is to eliminate any form of transaction history linking the slot vendor to the candidate. It’s a measure against ‘just in case’ they get caught.

Job Seekers at the Mercy of Employment Scammers

While looking for a federal job, desperation might easily set in. This means that applicants are more likely to get scammed. Applicants who are new to the system eventually learn that Nigeria’s recruitment is pay to play, and are tempted to jump on any opportunity that is captioned “Pay now and secure a slot”. Knowing it is probably the only way to get the job, they helplessly make transfers to faceless people on social media, forums, fake websites advertising
slots, etc. You would not blame them. As a Nairalander, CJStarz wrote on this thread www.nairaland.com/7895196/seriously-need-federal-government-job, “When you are desperate
for something, you are prone to falling into [the] wrong hands.”

What is the Federal Government Doing About It and What is the Way Forward?

Well, yes, the Nigerian government is doing something, at least on paper. Even that is without sabotage. For example, the Premium Times had reported how Nigerian lawmakers probing job racketeering were extorting money from agencies.

A few have been caught in the act. In 2020, a serving Deputy Director of the Federal Character Commission, FCC, Alh. Ahmad Balarabe was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment by the State
High Court 3 sitting in Gusau, Zamfara State for defrauding unsuspecting job seekers of N7 million. In 2023, the House of Representatives ordered the arrest of a former desk officer in
charge of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) at the Federal Character Commission (FCC), Haruna Kolo, over job racketeering allegations.

Just more good news: the Senate plans to enact a law prescribing stiffer sanctions to stem job racketeering and disregard for the federal character principles in employment. This was
reported by the chairman, the Senate Committee on Federal Character and Inter-governmental Affairs, Allwell Onyesoh, at a meeting with the management of the Federal Character
Commission in Abuja. He further added that “… you must put some sanctions if you want things
to work; we are considering stiffer penalties; there must be a consequence for everything.”

Slot Buying Is Not All the Problem But…

If applicants are not getting recruited into civil service, it’s not a problem restricted to job racketeering alone. In Nigeria, a federal agency may be looking for just 5,000 applicants, only to see 1.5 million applicants. For example, during the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps,
NSCDC, recruitment in 2022. about 1.5 million applications were registered on the website.

“Those who met the requirements on age and height were about 750,000 and were asked to upload their certificates. A total of 217,000 applicants uploaded their certificates of which 113,000 were shortlisted to write the CBT but only 53,116 eventually sat for the test. It is from these that 5,000 were picked among the successful ones.” This was declared by the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, at the Policy Dialogue on Entrenching Transparency in Public Service Recruitment in Nigeria, organised by the Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria, an institution of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Relates Offences Commission
(ICPC) in Abuja.

Poor qualifications submitted by the applicants are another reason many applicants fail to get the job. Sometimes, this issue is coupled with candidates’ failure to follow simple instructions.

Internal recruitments are also a cause, whereby no public announcements are made regarding vacant positions. This is often the case with the CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria). The CBN admits that some recruitments are internally done while some are publicly announced inviting qualified
candidates to apply.

We will not even go into ancestral influence. Some agencies are known family businesses, whereby vacant positions are shared amongst the kins of existing officers. Such cases are different from slot buying, except the officers might show appreciation in cash or kind.

Considering these unfair realities, it pays better to learn a good skill and be your own boss at the moment instead of focusing your dreams on a potentially slot-based government job. We can only hope for the government to get rid of the scrupulous elements whose acts of profit before service continue to sideline the best talents, encourage incompetent civil service, and consequently torment the growth of Nigeria.

News

N200b Agric Credit Dispute: Appeal Court Slams NAIC, Upholds First Bank Victory

Published

6 hours ago

November 29, 2025

Editor

The Court of Appeal, Abuja, has dismissed the appeal filed by the Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation (NAIC) against First Bank of Nigeria in the long-running dispute over the disbursement of the Federal Government’s N200 billion Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme.

The decision was one of seven precedent-setting judgments delivered in six hours on Friday by Justice Okon Abang, underscoring his reputation as a hardworking, firm, and uncompromisingly principled jurist whose rulings continue to shape Nigeria’s legal landscape across criminal, human rights, banking, and civil litigation.

In 2013, the NAIC dragged First Bank before the Federal High Court via originating summons, alleging that the bank failed to deduct the mandatory 2.5 per cent premium under the agriculture credit scheme. First Bank promptly filed a counter-affidavit and written address, with both sides joining issues and exchanging further processes over the years.

But when the case was ripe for hearing, NAIC sought to suddenly withdraw its suit—claiming an unnamed Bankers’ Committee representative had approached it for an out-of-court settlement.

First Bank objected, insisting that once pleadings had been exchanged, withdrawal without consent should lead to dismissal, not a mere striking out. To strike out, the bank argued, would allow NAIC a second bite at the cherry—an abuse of process.

The Federal High Court agreed and dismissed the suit, prompting NAIC to head to the Court of Appeal.

Delivering the unanimous judgment of the Court of Appeal, Justice Abang held that NAIC’s appeal was “grossly misconceived” and that, having seen the bank’s defence, NAIC attempted to retreat and re-strategise, “only being smart, believing that it could cunningly manipulate judicial proceedings to save a suit that appears weak and manifestly unsupported.”

He stressed that, once a defendant’s counter-affidavit has been served, any withdrawal by the claimant must naturally lead to dismissal, not striking out, to avoid overreaching the respondent.

Justice Abang agreed with the trial court that, “Since issues have been joined and the matter has previously been adjourned on several occasions, the proper order to make on the application of the plaintiff is to dismiss the suit.”

The Court of Appeal also questioned NAIC’s reliance on an alleged intervention by the Bankers’ Committee—a non-party that had earlier resisted being joined in the matter.

The appellate court concluded that NAIC, having sighted the bank’s counter-affidavit, simply lost confidence in its case and sought a “soft landing” to refile later.

News

Nigeria Records One Of Africa’s Widest Gaps In Policy Reputation Index

Published

6 hours ago

November 29, 2025

Editor

Nigeria has been identified as one of the African nations suffering the largest disconnect between policy delivery and citizen trust, a finding described as the “defining governance crisis” across the continent, according to the inaugural RPI African Policy Index 2025 released by Reputation Poll International (RPI).

The comprehensive Index, which evaluates governance and policy performance across all 54 African countries, places Nigeria in the middle tier of “Strugglers” with an overall score of 52.3. This category reflects nations that achieve partial policy results but fail to earn public confidence.

Drawing from hard data on policy implementation and perception surveys involving over 25,000 Africans, the report shows that Nigeria records one of the continent’s widest Trust Gaps, sometimes exceeding 25 points between objective performance and citizen confidence.

The report flags Nigeria alongside South Africa, Angola, Egypt, and Zimbabwe as countries with the most severe mismatches.

In Nigeria, anti-corruption laws and other initiatives score reasonably well on paper but fail to inspire public trust due to perceived elite impunity and inconsistent enforcement.

Similar patterns exist across these nations, where oil wealth, infrastructure spending, and progressive legislation do not convince ordinary citizens that governments genuinely serve their interests. This trust deficit is highlighted as Africa’s core governance challenge.

The Index emphasises that without deliberate measures to close the gap—through transparent data, citizen audits, and visible accountability—policy ambitions alone cannot produce stable or legitimate outcomes.

By contrast, a small group of nations scoring above 70 demonstrate that world-class governance is achievable when delivery is matched by citizen belief.

Mauritius leads with 78.9, followed by Seychelles at 76.4, Cabo Verde at 74.8, and Botswana at 73.2. These countries excel because strong economic management, high vaccination rates, transparent institutions, and consistent progress in education and digital reforms are reinforced by equally high public trust.

Botswana and Mauritius succeed not because they are wealthy, but because they systematically include citizens in monitoring and feedback, narrowing the trust deficit to near zero.

Over half of Africa, however, remains far from this standard. The Strugglers tier (50–69.9) encompasses 30 countries, while 18 “Systemic Challengers” score below 50, from Sierra Leone at 49.2 to South Sudan at 28.4.

In these countries, structural breakdowns, chronic insecurity, and collapsed legitimacy produce average Trust Gaps of 35 points, undermining even modest policy efforts amid daily experiences of violence and exclusion.

Central Africa records the lowest regional average at 41.2, while Southern Africa dominates the top tier. West, East, and North Africa deliver mixed results.

For Nigerian leadership, the Index sends a clear message: policy formulation alone is no longer sufficient. As the country grapples with debt, youth unemployment, and climate pressures, bridging the Trust Gap through better communication, transparency, and inclusive monitoring has become essential to achieve sustained development and restore public confidence.

The RPI African Policy Index 2025 stands as both a warning and a roadmap: unless the trust deficit is addressed, Africa’s governance crisis will only deepen.
(GUARDIAN)