Follow Us on Google
By Gabriel Dike
The Joint Action Congress (JAC) of the three staff unions of Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH), Lagos, has described the recent approval of transfer of service for the current bursar by the governing council as against the provisions of public service rules (PSR).
The YABATECH JAC, made up of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics (SSANIP) and Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU), told The Education Report that decisions taken by the governing council after the Federal Government had dissolved the council were illegal.
The union leaders confirmed that one of the decisions taken after the dissolution of the council was the approval of transfer of service for the bursar from Federal Polytechnic, Offa, Keara State, to YABATECH.
It was reported that the Prince Lateef Fagbemi-led governing council met from June 19th to 23rd and approved the transfer of service request without recourse to the public service rules.
One of the union leaders told The Education Report that the bursar was engaged in 2018 and was on leave of absence, adding, “his tenure will end on December 11, 2023. When it ends, he is expected to return to Offa Poly.”
The JAC member stated that, going by public service rules, the bursar is expected to return to Offa Poly and work for six months before he can seek transfer of service to another institution.
According to him, for the transfer to be valid, there had to be vacancy (advert), stressing, even if there was an advert, the council must look at internal qualified staff before considering external persons for the post.
Another union chairman disclosed that transfer of service could only be effective when the leave of absence expires, arguing, “in the case of the YABATECH bursar, he is still in the position. We wonder why the council approved his transfer.”
Said he: “When the bursar was engaged for the college, we had 12 qualified chief accountants. Based on public service rules, no civil servant is allowed to backdate his/her transfer of service.
The bursar started work in the college on December 11, 2018, so his tenure ends on December 11, 2023, and he has to go back to Offa Poly and spend six months before coming back if engaged.”
The union chairman insisted that the illegal meeting by the council was summoned to ratify the bursar’s transfer of service request when the bursar still has five months to complete his tenure.
“The approval of the transfer of service when the bursar is still engaged in YABATECH is abuse of the public service rules. We expect the Federal Ministry of Education to look into this issue and correct the anomaly. How can the council take a decision after the government had dissolved them? The action of council is illegal.”
The PSR code 020503 on senior posts, says “transfer from one senior post to another within the federal public service require the prior approval of the Federal Civil Services Commission and an officer must have served for a minimum period of six months in his original department before seeking transfer to another department.”
Code 020506 states that ‘’no applicant shall be considered for transfer on promotion to any ministry/extra-ministerial office except in response to an advertised post.”
The public service rules (020506) added that the contemplated transfer should in no way jeopardize the promotion prospects of servicing offices.
