300K Nigerians jostle for jobs in anti-graft agency

No fewer than 300,000 applications were received for the 750 positions advertised by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), an official has said.

Its Director of Public Affairs, Mr Osita Nwaja, announced the figures in Enugu when he visited the Enugu zonal office of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

Nwaja said that the recruitment was segmented, adding that the first phase of the exercise ended on June 26.

“We had more than 300,000 applicants that applied for the 750 positions which are in three cadres, junior, middle and senior cadres.

“We are considering a whole lot of junior staff so that they will grow in the system.

“The criteria were well spelt out and those that met them wrote the examination,” he said.

Nwaja said that by the recruitment, the EFCC had moved to fortify its ranks in view of the onerous task of fighting corruption.

“The fight against corruption is fundamental to everything we do in this country. It is a fight we cannot afford to lose.

“We must keep on recruiting foot soldiers to meet our objective as it is geared toward the direction of making Nigeria greater,” he said.

“We cannot do this alone and that is why we are always reaching out to the media.

“We have found in NAN a veritable ally in this task of curbing corruption in the country.

“We want to leverage on your wide reach, credibility and accessibility to achieve our mandate.

“A lot of work is going on at the zonal office of our commission.

“If this fight against corruption must be won, all Nigerians and institutions must join as this affects the common man,” Nwaja said.

Responding, the South East Zonal Manager of NAN, Mr Vincent Okwor, said that the agency was open to collaborating with the commission in achieving its mandate.

Okwor said that the visit would afford the agency and the commission the opportunity to build on the already existing relationship at the zonal level.

He commended the commission for the job it was doing, which he said would go a long way to launder the battered image of the country.

The director was accompanied by the Zonal Head of Public Affairs of the commission, Mr James Oluka, and his deputy, Mr Jide Ilupeju.