The Nigeria Army has dismissed allegations of favoritism in its latest enlistment process.
The security arm stressed that Federal Character principles were fully complied with in the exercise.
Director, Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Yerima, debunked allegations of lopsidedness in a statement on Wednesday.
The Army was accused of bias in the recruitment for the Short Service Commission course 47.
There are allegations that the successful candidates were dominated by Northerners, while the South East had the least number.
Yerima said an equal number of eight candidates were selected from each state, except in instances where a state did not have the required number of eligible candidates.
The spokesman explained that in such cases, the vacancy will be filled by a contiguous state from the same geopolitical zone.
“Following this number allocated per state, the South East, which is made up of five states, was entitled to 40 candidates. However, two additional vacancies were allocated to the zone, thereby making a total of 42 candidates instead of 40.
“North Central, for instance, has seven states, including the FCT. Taking eight candidates from each state in the geopolitical zone gives a total of 56, in addition to two extra vacancies as was also allocated to the South East, gave the total of 58 candidates,” he said.
The Army accused critics of whipping up sentiments from “a straightforward exercise” conducted in the best interest of the nation.
