Falana demands refund of N700m NIS recruitment fees

Falana demands refund of N700m NIS recruitment fees

Mr. Femi Falana

Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, has asked the Minister of Interior, Mr. Abba Moro, to refund the fees collected from applicants in the ill-fated recruitment by the Nigerian Immigration Service.

Falana alleged in a letter dated April 2, 2014 and addressed to the minister, that the money totaling about N700m was “extorted” from the applicants “as there was no plan to employ the majority of them”.

The letter was entitled, ‘Demand for the refund of recruitment fee of N700m’.

The lawyer threatened to sue the minister “for extorting N700m from the job seekers on behalf of the Federal Government” if the demand for the refund of the money was not acceded to.

“It is hoped that you will not compel us to resort to litigation in the circumstance as it will expose the Federal Government to untold embarrassment,” Falana stated in his letter.

The recruitment tests conducted across the country on March 15 left 20 applicants dead and many others injured in the stampede that characterised the exercise.

The Lagos lawyer rejected the minister’s excuse that the Federal Government had not ordered his ministry to refund the money.

The lawyer argued that since there was no bill by the National Assembly authorising the imposition of the fee on the job applicants, the minister’s action amounted to a violation of Section 59 (1) (b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.

He said, “In spite of your official negligence which led to the tragic death of 20 of the applicants, you stated that the Federal Government had not ordered you to refund the said sum of N700m. You have therefore decided not to refund the money or forfeit it to the Federal Government.

“However, since the National Assembly did not pass any money bill authorising the collection of the recruitment fee or levy of one thousand Naira per applicant, your action is a violation of Section 59 (1) (b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) which provides that there shall be a bill ‘for the imposition of or increase in any tax, duty or fee or any reduction, withdrawal or cancellation thereof’.”

Falana reminded the minister of two separate judgments recently delivered by the Federal High Court in Lagos, one of which declared illegal and unconstitutional the collection of tolls by the Lagos State Government on the Lekki-Ikoyi Link Bridge.