Federal Gov't Makes U-Turn On Fire Service Recruitment, Extends Exercise Till September

The federal government has backtracked on its earlier statement on the conclusion of the ongoing recruitment into the Federal Fire Service (FFS) on June 15, saying the exercise now has a new deadline of September 2024.

The development comes after criticisms from job seekers over the silence from the federal government one month after the expiration of the initial June 15 deadline.

The Secretary of the Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services Board (CDCFIB), Ja’afaru Ahmed, in a statement posted on Board’s X handle, retracted his earlier statement, stating that manpower audits carried out by Services under the Board caused the delay in the FSS recruitment exercise.

LEADERSHIP reports that the recruitment process, which commenced late last year (2023), was billed to be concluded on June 15, 2024.

The delay and silence on the part of concerned authorities, which no doubt caused anxiety among desperate job seekers, triggered anger and raised several questions.

However, apparently in a bid to calm the frayed nerves of applicants, the Board secretary, Ja’afaru Ahmed, said, “The board wishes to apologise over its inability to complete the process by 15th June, 2024, as earlier intended.

“This is due to a nationwide manpower audit exercise carried out in the Nigerian Correctional Service, Nigeria Immigration Service, Federal Fire Service and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, which was just recently concluded.

“The Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services Board wishes to inform the general public that it will commence the next stage of the recruitment exercise in August, and will conclude the exercise before the end of September, 2024.”