Yesterday, several members of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Ogun State appealed to Rauf Aregbesola, the interior minister, for assistance about what they called a "lopsided promotion exercise."
The officials bemoaned the fact that they have only received one promotion since joining the corps in 2010.
It was learned that the allegedly unfair promotion affects no fewer than 150 corps officers in Ogun State.
The officials charged the corps with promoting other employees dishonestly who could afford to pay bribes to the corps' top brass.
One of the affected officials, who spoke under condition of anonymity, alleged that they were being extorted by the management of the NSCDC “through payment of exorbitant fees for various promotion exercises, but we’re yet to get promoted.”
The aggrieved official urged the Minister to urgently address the delay in their promotion, saying those enlisted into the corps between 2012 and 2016 are now ahead of them.
His words: “We were enlisted into NSCDC in 2010. Although we were recruited with Bsc, we were not placed into the normal rank which is Assistant Superintendent of Corps II (ASC II) Conpass 8, rather we were placed on Inspector of Corps Conpass 7.
“In 2011, the abnormalities were corrected as we were properly placed on Conpass 8. By 2014, we were already due for the promotion and promotion exercise was conducted in which out of 100 per cent of our set that sat for the examination, less than 40 per cent were promoted, with the claim that there was no availability of space.
The spokesperson of NSCDC, Olusola Odumosu, denied the allegations, saying the corps promote officials based on merit and performance of their promotion examination.
Odumosu said: “Every staff that is qualified is allowed to write an exam, but if 100 people write the exam and there are vacancies for only 20 personnel, you don’t expect the Commandant General to do magic.”