NAQS Recruitment Under Scrutiny as Applicants Allege Secret Selection, Training
Pecohub The Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS) has come under intense public scrutiny following allegations of a compromised, non-transparent recruitment process that left thousands of job seekers mass-disqualified while handpicked candidates were allegedly secretly dispatched for official training.
Disgruntled applicants have called on the President Bola Tinubu-led government to investigate the leadership of the federal agency, describing the recent Computer-Based Test (CBT) selection exercise as a smokescreen meant to legitimise predetermined appointments.
According to some affected applicants, who spoke to SaharaReporters, the agency shortlisted only a tiny fraction of candidates for the CBT examination.
The vast majority — estimated at nearly 90 per cent of all applicants — were kept in administrative limbo for over five days with portal status reflecting “under review,” before being systematically disqualified without clear explanations or performance feedback.
“If the recruitment was meant for selected candidates and not for candidates who genuinely merited the opportunity, then it should not have been publicly advertised in the first place,” one frustrated applicant stated. “Public employment should be transparent, fair, and based on merit.”
Fueling allegations of job racketeering, evidence surfaced on social media showing that while short-listed applicants were sitting for the CBT, pre-selected individuals had already commenced documentation and physical training at the agency’s facility in Ibadan, Oyo State.
A social media post by one Comrade Abdul Saraki Yaba publicly congratulated a candidate, identified as “Hon Tekpeshe On Top,” on his ongoing “training and documentation duties as a Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Service officer.”
Accompanying photos showed recruits dressed in white athletic uniforms at a parade ground, confirming that documentation and training exercises were already underway concurrently with the publicly advertised testing phase.
The revelation has sparked widespread indignation among job seekers and civil society groups, who accuse NAQS of violating federal character guidelines, public procurement rules, and civil service regulations governing public recruitment.
Critics maintain that subjecting thousands of Nigerians to a sham screening process while secretly onboarding preferred candidates amounts to gross incompetence, waste of public funds, and systemic fraud.
Affected job seekers have urged the Federal Civil Service Commission, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, and anti-graft agencies to immediately intervene, halt the ongoing training in Ibadan, and audit the entire recruitment exercise to ensure compliance with national standards of fairness and accountability.
