Retire Jamila Shu’ara Now, Labour Charges PMB
The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) on Thursday reiterated its call for the immediate retirement of Mrs. Jamila Shu’ara, former Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources who was later transferred to the Federal Ministry of Education.
The top civil servants in a press statement issued in Lagos signed by the ASCSN Secretary-General, Comrade Alade Bashir Lawal, regretted that despite all its wise counsel, they learnt the Federal Government extended the tenure of Mrs. Shu’ara for another one year with effect from Monday, 20th March, 2017.
The union recalled that when Mrs. Shu’ara attained the retirement age of 60 years in 2016 as provided for in Public Service Rule 020810, the Federal Government for inexplicable reason, extended her tenure from 17th February 2016 to 16th February 2017 and assured her that her “emoluments and other conditions of Service will remain sustained up to 16th February 2017”.
It added that even though the union wrote series of letters and memoranda urging the government to reverse the illegal extension because it violated the Public Service Rules and other extant regulations dealing with retirement in the Public Service, the Government never responded to the letters let alone rescind its action on the matter.
“It is necessary to inform the public that the offensive extension had eventually lapsed on the 16th of February, 2017 and Mrs. Shu’ara is still planning to cling to office as if the retirement age in the civil service has been reviewed upward.
“She has been scheming to procure another questionable extension letter.
“Since the extension of tenure of Mrs. Shu’ara is not only a violation of Public Service Rules but also constitutes an act of impunity which is very unfortunate, the Association has concluded arrangement to carry out series of trade union actions in the Ministry of Education if Mrs. Shu’ara shows up for duty in the Ministry.
“We have alerted the Presidency, National Assembly, State Security Service, Honourable Minister of Labour and Employment and Head of the Civil Service of the Federation on the matter. We have, therefore, concluded our plan to descend on the Ministry towards ensuring that the needful is done. There is no going back,” the union added.
Meanwhile, the Union commended the House of Representatives for inviting Mrs. Shu’ara to explain the circumstances leading to the illegal extension of her tenure as Permanent Secretary and emphasized the need for the lawmakers to pursue the matter to its logical conclusion by ensuring that Mrs. Shu’ara vacated office as a Permanent Secretary in the interest of rule of law and good governance.