Suspected Scam At The Federal Ministry of Education As Retired Directors Stay Put in Service

In an Exclusive investigation by our correspondent revealed that not less than 22 of the affected senior officers who were due for retirement since 2021 and had indeed retired but illegally decided to stay put in their duty positions without any eyes blinking were re-appointed as Principals of Federal unity schools after participating in a Computer Based Test (CBT) that took place on the 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th of August, 2022.

 The action drew the anger of staff of the Ministry including some of the Principals that were schemed out to accommodate the retired ones then. Further investigation revealed that the names of the affected workers were no longer in the payroll of the Federal Government when they were appointed to function as Principals of Federal unity schools and other various duty positions.

A source in the Federal Ministry of Education revealed that the officers who facilitated the retention of the 22 retired principals in their duty posts must have hid their nefarious actions on the presidential pronouncement of the President Mohammadu Buhari on teachers’ elongation of service year in the year 2020 during World Teachers’ Day.

 It will be recalled that the Bill on the elongation of teachers service year to either 65 years by age  or 40 by year of service whichever comes first was drafted and sent to the National Assembly as an Executive Bill and not an Executive Order.

 To this end, nothing was done to the Bill until 21st November 2021 when the House of Representatives passed the Bill and thereafter the Senate too concurred, on the 9th of February 2022. The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Muhammadu Buhari signed it into law on the 7th of April, 2022 and was already gazetted coded as Act No 8.

It is embarrassing therefore to note that many affected officers who were supposed to have retired since 2021 before the signing of the bill into law have continued to stay put in their seats though considered that they have retired because the law was not retroactively implemented. Impeccable source described the whole scenario playing out in the Federal Ministry of Education as a notorious illegality which eroded the integrity of the office of the then Honourable Minister of Education Mallam Adamu Adamu, as well as the office of the then Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Mr. David Adejo.

This is premised on the fact that the action playing out in the Ministry is against the presidential directive on the elongation of service year for teachers. The retention of the affected officers in the service is not only appalling but also illegal and has also invalidated the commencement date which is 7th April, 2022 as contained in the gazette dated 20th April, 2022. The retention of the officers equally contradicts the circular for guideline on implementation of the new retirement age and length of service for the teaching profession which highlighted the requirements to follow for the elongation and those that are qualified for the elongation as contained in the circular issued by the office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation vide OHCSF/PS/ CMO/147/1/ 81, dated 25th May, 2022.

 The circular from the office of the then Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Mr. David  Andrew Adejo,  issued by vide FME/HRM/S.234/II number dated 23rd June, 2022 which affirmed that the harmonized retirement Age Act is superior to any guideline is inconsistent and incongruous with the action of the Ministry on the implementation.

Our investigation showed that the illegal retention of those who are supposed to have left the service might led to no vacancy declared for directorate cadre in 2023 by the Federal Ministry of Education. Similarly, less than a month ago, millions of tax payers’ money was earmarked to pay the salary arrears of the education officers whose names were once removed from IPPIS platform based on the directive from the office of the Head of Service of the Federation.

It was also gathered that their retirement was necessitated by the fact that they had attained the mandatory age of retirement and also the required active years in service. They were however illegally reabsorbed and re-enrolled on IPPIS platform contrary to the commencement date as contained in the Government official gazette for harmonized retirement Age Act which was 7th April, 2022.  In view of these contradictions and illegality, a concerned member of staff of the Ministry who craved for anonymity called on EFCC, lCPC, DSS and other relevant government security agencies to sanitize the mess in the Federal Ministry of Education which is the hub Ministry responsible for moral and good character moulding.