PROBLEMS OF MANPOWER PROCUREMENT IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT COUNCIL: A CASE OF THE NIGER STATE LOCAL GOVERNMENT SERVICE COMMISSION

The abysmal performance in civil service in Niger State today, particularly in Local Government Councils is largely accountable to the politicization of recruitment and selection devoid of merit – based as against the background of Weberian principles. The methodology adopted for this paper is both primary and secondary sources of data collection. A Stratified random sampling method was used to draw a sample of Niger State. It was identified that factors such as increasing pressures for employment, utilization of informal sources of: recruitment, lack of independence of the Niger State Local Government service commission. As a result of these problems, job description and standard personnel requirements were not adequately used in the recruitment process, especially at the lowest category of grade levels. Based on the findings, it was recommended that recruitment of the best-qualified candidate should be recruited using the academic qualification, experience, performance at selection interview.