…Says ICPC knows about it
In anticipation of the full passage of the bill by the National Assembly and the assent of the President, the management of the Corps, led by Mr. Dickson Akor has embarked o recruitment of job seekers at an official cost of N41, 500.
Loading ...Investigations revealed that since a bill to make Peace Corps of Nigeria a government Agency was presented at the National Assembly, the organization has embarked on mass recruitment of youths at the National Headquarters in Abuja and other states.
The Organization that has existed for 18 years has been a voluntary one with few membership until recently when a bill to make it a government agency under the Ministry of Interior was sent to the National Assembly.
According to sources, any applicant who is seeking to be enlisted into the Corps would obtain an enlistment form at the cost of N1, 500 and would be expected to pay N40, 000 for training and kitting.
It was also revealed that another payment that some of the unsuspecting youths make is N1, 000 for those who could not provide certificate of medical fitness.
The bill, according to the Corps Secretary, Kabiru Badamasi has been passed by the House of Representatives, while it awaits the passage of the Senate before the assent of the President, Muhammadu Buhari.
The enlisting letter titled: Staff Officers’ Provisional Enlistment given to the applicants read in part: Following your performance, including medical, at the interview conducted for admittance into the staff officers’ cadre of this Organization, we hereby notify you of your provisional enlistment, which you will be required to participate in a 4 week initial training ad orientation.
Admittance into the camp is subject to the payment of a highly subsidized camp registration fee if N40, 000 payable at the and branch of the Zenith Bank in favour of Peace Corps Nigeria, with Acct. No. 1014255246.
Further, the Provision Enlisting letter stated: Please note that the reason for payment of the above subsidized fee is due to the high number of youths absorbed into this Corps as a result of our commitment toward making our unemployed youths mean fully engaged.
Also, the letter signed by Mrs. Omolola Amao on behalf of the National Commandant stated that: Be informed that, the camp will be an open exercise, as such you are required to take care of your feeding and also come along with other necessary sporting wears.
The Corps Secretary exonerated the Organisation of any wrong doing in collecting N40, 000 from the applicants.
He stated that the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offense Commission had investigated the activities of the Organization and cleared them of any wrong doing.
In the letter that was addressed to the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Youth Development dated July 9 and signed by Adedayo Kayode, the Commission said, This Commission investigated a case bordering on the violation of the corrupt practices and other related offences Act 2000.
The Peace Corps of Nigeria was alleged to extort the sum of N40, 000 from every potential member into the Corps. However, after a thorough investigation by the Commission, this allegation has been proven to be false as this amount collected by the Corps represents a subsidize rate for
R enlisted members from the provision of complete uniform kits and the payment is voluntary
It has therefore become necessary that the Ministry, being the supervising Agency of the Peace Corps of Nigeria, puts out a notice about the N40, 000 being collected by the Corps from all new intending members, for what the money actually is, a “voluntary donation”, and is by no means mandatory.
However, a reliable source revealed that the Senate might not pass the bill as the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps is doing everything to stop the passage of the bill.
According to the source, the NSCDC believes that the passage of the Peace Corps Bill would erode in its functions.
Also another source averred that most of the monies collected by the Peace Corps were used to lobby members of the National Assembly for the passage of the bill.
Many of the enlisted applicants that have undergone the training are still waiting for the bill to be passed so that they can be gainful employed.
The Corps Secretary could not disclosed how many applicants that have been enlisted into the Corps in the last six months, but stated that they have training centers in Kaduna, Nasarawa, Lagos and some other states.
