The study focus on political interference and bureaucratic performance in Nigeria: A human resource trajectory of the muffling of bureaucratic capacity. The objectives of the study are to challenge the unbalance thesis of the overdevelopment of government bureaucracy stunting political development and by extension causing underdevelopment in Africa, examine the impact of political interference on the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC) human resources performance, and examine the extent to which temporary political executives seek to extend their reach in DESOPADEC by politicizing the bureaucracy and how cooperate governance is undermined in the process. Mixed methods research design was used for the study. The findings revealed that 86% of those recruited into the organization were influenced by political considerations and that political interference in bureaucratic organization’s recruitment and selection processes heavily impede the bureaucracy opportunity to hiring skillful and qualified candidates. The researchers recommended that political executives and the political class should be isolated from bureaucratic recruitment and selection process to allow private sector consultants selected by host communities and civil society organizations to be allow to conduct merit based employment. It also recommended that host communities representatives and civil society organizations monitor the required process while advocating for the use of Information Communication technology tools to conduct transparent interview(s) to allow for transparency and equal opportunities for all participants. `
Keywords: Corporate Governance, Development, bureaucratic performance, political interference and public policy environment.
