‎Reps raise alarm over increasing cases of abuse of expatriates quota system by companies

THE House of Representatives on Wednesday raised the alarm over the increasing cases of abuse of expatriates quota system by companies in the country without due regard to local content Act and the recently signed Executive Order by President Muhammadu Buhari aimed at putting an end to all sharp practices relating to the illegal influx of expatriates.

The House Committee on Telecommunications investigating the level of Compliance with expatriate quota system by companies operating in the Country raised the ‎alarm yesterday when the management of Huawei Telecommunications company along with some of its expatriates appear before the Committee.

Chairman of the Committee, Honourable Shaheed Akinade-Fijabi while reacting to the submission of the Company which had 299 expatriates mainly Chinese on its employment despite the availability of qualified Nigerians who could perform similar duties they were being made to do by the firm.

According to Akinade- Fijabi, “The parliament will not allow Nigeria to be turned a dumping ground‎ of all manners of expatriates, f this committee finds out that there are Nigerians that can do similar work these people are doing, we will not hesitate to send them packing.

“If you say you have about 10 or fewer expatriates in your Company, that can be overlooked but when you are saying about 300, that is alarming and unacceptable to us when the law of local content is there with the recently signed executive order by the president.

” If there are Nigerians that Can do what all these expatriates are doing, there is no reason giving them our visa in line with the new Executive order signed by the President. ”

‎However, there was a mild drama, when the expatriates could not provide answers to simple questions put to them on the numbers of Nigerians attached to them to over study them despite the fact that their entry permits would expire in three months time as well as their description of jobs.

Okorocha explains choice of son-in-law as successor

The Deputy Managing Director of the Company, Mr Osita Nweze who tried to defend the expatriates that they could only communicate in the Chinese language was queried on how the expatriates have been Communicating with those understudying than before now.

Following this development, the committee directed the management of the Company to appear‎ before it again by next week Friday with an updated list of the expatriates working with it, their job descriptions, their current identity cards, Educational qualification, the numbers and names of the Nigerians currently understudying them and that 30 of the expatriates from the six geo-political. Zones of the country where they currently being engaged.

Responding, Mr Nweze promised that the company would comply with the legislative directive.