A federal high court
in Abuja has ordered the suspension of Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation’s ongoing job recruitment pending the determination of a suit filed
by Pelumi Olajengbesi.
Olajengbesi, a public interest
lawyer, commenced the enforcement of the fundamental rights of all potential
applicants to set aside the recruitment by the NNPC on the ground that it was
discriminatory.
The recruitment had
disqualified Nigerians above the age of 28 from applying for the vacant
positions.
Olajengbesi had
faulted the age criterion placed on the ongoing recruitment of the NNPC noting
that it violated section 3(e)(iv) of the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement
Procedure), 2009 which protected the public interest of Nigerians
He had written to the
then Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, on March 26,
threatening to drag the organisation to court for placing discriminatory age
requirements on qualified Nigerians who would have applied for the jobs
advertised by the corporation.
The NNPC had invited
applications from candidates for a number of positions including trainees who
must not be more than 28 years as of December 31, 2018, and had graduated from
a university or polytechnic not earlier than 2014.
At the hearing on
October 18, the applicant prayed the court to ensure that justice was served on
the unemployed Nigerians who needed to know their stand in the matter.
