Aggrieved NDLEA Officers Seek Nigerian Attorney-General's Intervention Over 12 Years' Delay In Promotion

As many as 800 officers of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have petitioned the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami over the refusal of the agency to promote them since they joined the agency 12 years ago, SaharaReporters reports.

The officers who were enlisted into the agency as NA 2011 intakes said they got direct appointments to narcotic agent rank (Level 5) in the second cadre of the agency's ranking structure on July 1, 2011, having fulfilled all the requirements as provided by the NDLEA condition of service chapter 2, no 10.

The officers in a petition dated April 30, 2022, called for the intervention of the minister to prevail on the leadership of the agency and promote them to their next ranks.

The aggrieved officers noted that NDLEA had conducted three promotion exercises since they were enlisted but deliberately excluded them without any given reason.

The petition read in part, "The efficacy of this is that our immediate juniors are now our mates while our immediate seniors are two ranks above us, making us lose seniority and (become) objects of caricature in our working environments all over Nigeria.

"The NDLEA’s condition of service designated three cadres which are the Narcotics Superintendent Cadre, the Narcotics Agent Cadre, and the Narcotics Assistant Cadre. The service number index of the NA2011 intakes was first changed from 2011/NA/to 2011/NASS/ suggesting that they were employed as Narcotics Assistants in 2011 literally pushing them down to the last cadre being the Narcotics Assistant cadre.

"This was done to change the identity of the NA2011 intakes and further debase the children of this great nation.

"This singular act contravenes the provisions of the NDLEA condition of service, chapter 2 no 3 which states that ‘no employee shall, on being appointed be placed above or below the provision of the scheme of service for the post’. 

"Your Lordship, we pray you use your good office empowered by the provision of sections 174 and 211 of the Nigerian constitution to address this injustice stated above and direct the agency to immediately promote the NA2011 intakes to the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Narcotics 2."