Falana demands refund of N700m NIS recruitment fees

Human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), has
asked the Minister of Interior, Mr. Abba Moro, to
refund the fees collected from applicants for the
jobs in the National Immigration Services.
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 about 20 applicants dead
and many others injured in the stampede which
charaterised the exercise.
The Lagos lawyer rejected the minister’s excuse
for not refunding the money because the Federal
Government had not ordered his ministry to do so.
The lawyer argued that since there was no bill by
the National Assembly to impose 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 N700,
000,000.00k. 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’.”