The Director General of National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development, NIPRD, Karniyus Gamaniel, has denied violating any law in conducting secret recruitment of staff into the agency.
His denial came in response to a PREMIUM TIMES’ report detailing how the research institute under Mr. Gamaniel has brazenly violated civil service rules requiring that all recruitment be advertised to allow qualified Nigerians compete for available vacancies.
The story, published Wednesday, showed how the institute refused to advertise available positions, choosing instead to obtain clearance from the head of service to waive relevant government rules, in exchange for being allowed to fill some of the available 35 slots.
Under the deal, the NIPRD was to fill 15 positions, while the head of service and the ministry of health (which supervises the NIPRD), would fill 10 slots apiece.
Mr. Gamaniel shared the 15 slots among the seven directorates of the agency, after his initial plan to retain all nearly backfired with directors in the office threatening to undermine the recruitment.
Our sources narrated how job racketeering was rampant at the institute, pointing at how Mr. Gamaniel recruited his relatives and friends into NIPRD.
A sham job interview for the 35 selected candidates was to hold on Wednesday.
It was later postponed after the story was published.
Mr. Gamaniel later told PREMIUM TIMES he breached no rule, apparently referring to the waiver from the head of service. He argued that abiding by the law that requires positions to be advertised, would have been a waste of government resources.
“It is also patently false that candidates are being sourced based on considerations other than merit, qualification and experience. NIPRD is a very serious R&D institution hence there can be no other criteria for the recruitment of personnel other than merit, qualification for the job and experience. Any insinuation to the contrary should be disregarded,” he said.
Mr. Gamaniel said the candidates who were invited for interview were drawn from an existing data base of applicants within the agency, compiled from a previous advertisement.
“It is perhaps very pertinent to indicate that all candidates for the scheduled interview have been drawn from an existing data base of applicants within the agency compiled from a previous advertisement.
“Note that this exercise did not commence today and it would serve no further useful purposes to embark on a fresh advertisement when the agency already has a warehouse of previous applications. This will amount to a waste of man hours and scarce government resources,” Mr. Gamaniel noted.
He accused PREMIUM TIMES of hastening to publish a “false story” without giving the agency the opportunity to respond.
However, PREMIUM TIMES contacted the director general repeatedly before the story was published. Our correspondents called his phones severally and when he did not respond, sent him text messages.
The reporters also sent an email on Sunday before the story was published Wednesday.
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