Expatriate quota abuses: FG expands Taskforce, administers oath of Secrecy on members

The Federal Government has expanded membership of the Special Ministerial Task Force on Monitoring and Enforcement of Expatriate Quota Administration from nine to 16. An official of the Ministry of Interior, Ozokwelu N. Nonye said this in a statement issued in Abuja on behalf of the Director, Press and Public Relations, Mohammed Manga. She quoted the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr Shuaib Belgore as saying that the decision was taken in order to reflect the other sectors that were not represented earlier, since the structures of the task force cut across various sectors of the economy.

Belgore also administered the official Oath of Secrecy on the non-Civil Service members of the task force, saying it was pertinent for the non-civil servants to take the Official Oath of Secrecy to enable them handle government confidential documents in accordance with all extant rules and regulations. The Permanent Secretary disclosed that it is the responsibility of the Minister, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola to enforce the provisions of the Immigration Act of 2015 as they relate to foreigners seeking to establish business in Nigeria and with regard to the employment of expatriates. 

Belgore explained that in conveying the Minister’s approval on Expatriate Quota, the guidelines on Expatriate Quota (EQ) Administration stipulates that “beneficiary company is required to employ two (2) Nigerian Graduates and submit to the Ministry, the names, qualifications and training programme for the Nigerian understudies attached to the approved Expatriate Quota (EQ) positions within the three months of receipt of the approval letter”. Belgore noted that this was to ensure effective transfer of knowledge and technology to Nigerian understudies and eventual indigenisation of the positions occupied by the expatriates.