The Honorable Niger Delta Affairs Minister Senator Godswill Akpabio told the Nigerian Senate on Thursday that he does not know how workers are being recruited for the ministry.

Addressing the Senate Committee on the Niger Delta during the Ministry’s 2022 budget defense exercise, Akpabio was also unable to back down from the nominal list of all staff working under his Ministry.

The minister, who was the Senate minority leader in the 8th Senate and governor for two terms of Akwa Ibom state, was reacting to why the Ministry’s salary bill soared from N1.4 billion in 2021 to N1. 6 billion in 2022. appropriation proposal.

He said, “I see new staff every day. I don’t know how they recruit them. The Federal Public Administration Commission sends them to us.

“I have had to question this before. They keep sending us new staff. We are not part of the recruitment exercise. The Civil Service Commission is the body responsible for this ”.

He added that the Ministry also had some personnel promotions during the year and movements from other ministries was also captured.

The Chairman of the Committee, Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, consequently ordered the Ministry and the Commission to forward the nominal list of the Niger Delta Ministry, which contains details of both junior and senior staff, with their salaries.

Senator Mohammed Hassan Gussau (Central Zamfara), a member of the Committee, had questioned the abnormal increase in overhead costs in the ministry’s budget, demanding to know if new staff was hired during the year under review.

The ministry’s total budget estimates for 2022 are N28.1 billion against N24.3 billion for the fiscal year 2021.