Association seeks improved appointments for principal officers of Colleges

The Senior Staff Union in Colleges of Education, Nigeria SSUCOEN, has requested that President Muhammadu Buhari set aside the appointments of  other Provosts and Principal Officers saying their appointments did not meet the requirements for such offices.

SSUCOEN also requests that the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu , ensure that criteria for the appointment of Principal Officers in Colleges of Education are followed and met by aspiring candidates.

The Union made it requests known in a statement signed and made available to journalists in Abuja by it President , Danladi Ali Msheliza.

In the statement tagged , Appointment Of Principal  Officers Of New Federal  Colleges Of Education : A CALL FOR REDRESS, the Union expressed concern which according to them is capable of being counterproductive, & unhealthy to Colleges of Education subsector as regards the appointment of most of the Principal Officers of the six new Federal Colleges of Education at Iwo, Osun State; Gidan Madi, Sokoto State; Odugbo, Benue State; Jama’are, Bauchi State; Isu, Ebonyi State and Ekiadolor, Edo State.

The Union stated that 90% of those on the list of appointees, do not meet the requirements for appointment as Principal Officers in Colleges of Education, as provided for in the approved Schemes and Conditions of Service(2015 Edition) for Colleges of Education in Nigeria.

SSUCOEN further stated, that it discovered that Governing Councils for the new Colleges of Education have been constituted, and it is the Governing Council that have the powers to appoint Principal Officers, as provided for in the Act establishing Federal Colleges of Education and other relevant extant rules and guiding documents.

“upon careful study of the list of the appointees, we discovered that most of the appointees are either from the Core Civil Service, Private Sector or other sectors outside Colleges of Education System, which is contrary to the provisions for the requirements for the appointment of Principal Officers in Colleges of Education, as contained in the Revised Conditions of Service for Colleges of Education (2015 Edition), and the Act establishing Federal Colleges of Education”

The Union alleged that the appointments were mostly based on political considerations, without due and diligent considerations to extant rules.

It added that the appointment of Principal Officers of any College of Education, by any other person or group, other than its Governing Council, amounts to illegality & usurpation of the powers of Council.

Msheliza acknowledged that the Union have no powers to determine or dictate who is to be appointed as Principal Officer of any Federal College of Education in Nigeria.

We urge the government to allow the Governing Councils of each of the new Colleges to follow due process & appoint their Principal Officers as enshrined in the law establishing Federal Colleges of Education.

SSUCOEN however warned that if it  concerns are not urgently addressed, the Union may be left with no option than to initiate actions that will challenge the observed infractions, in line with the Conditions of Service for Colleges of Education, the subsisting court judgment and other extant laws.

Ime N