Mrs Omorodion said following the established facts, the "non-compliance with the provisions of the Public Service Rules (2021) and circular would amount to breach of rules and regulations..."
The National Universities Commission (NUC) has held a management meeting to discuss the revised Public Service Rules (PSR), 2021, and the failure of the agency to implement the circular earlier issued by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Folasade Yemi-Esan, which directed compliance by the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of the government.
It was the first time the NUC would discuss the new PSR since 27 July 2023 when Mrs Yemi-Esan directed compliance.
The new development is a reaction to an exclusive report by PREMIUM TIMES which exposes the non-compliance by NUC, and how its supervising ministry - the Federal Ministry of Education (FME) looked the other way.
At NUC's management meeting on Wednesday, an Acting Director of Human Resources, Victoria Omorodion, presented a position paper detailing her findings on the PSR, especially as it relates to the eight-year-tenure limit for directors.
Mrs Omorodion's paper recommended that directors who may have spent eight years serving in such capacity should prepare to retire, even as she suggested further inquiry on the applicability of the policy to two deputy executive secretaries at the agency who have also spent more than eight years as directors.
Backstory
PREMIUM TIMES on Sunday published its story titled: "EXCLUSIVE: Controversy as top NUC officials snub eight years tenure limit rule, refuse to retire," which details the failure of concerned individuals and agencies of government to implement the newly revised PSR at the NUC.
Findings by this newspaper confirmed that NUC's Deputy Executive Secretaries (DES) for Academics and Administration- Noel Saliu and Chris Maiyaki, respectively, argued that they are exempted from eight-year-tenure policy by virtue of their new portfolios as DES.
However, according to multiple sources, NUC's Director in charge of the Establishment of Private Universities, Constance Goddy-Nnadi, who has also spent more than eight years as a director refused to retire "simply because the deputy executive secretaries refused to retire."
"So for the past seven months when the circular directing implementation was issued by the HOCSF, NUC pretended it never saw it. Not even agitations by the workers could move them until the embarrassing publication by PREMIUM TIMES," a senior director in one of the ministries who does not want to be quoted, said.
HR's position paper
Less than 48 hours after the newspaper's report was published, PREMIUM TIMES learnt that the acting human resources director of the agency, Mrs Omorodion, was requested to prepare a position paper to be debated at the agency's management meeting on Wednesday.
The position paper, a copy of which this newspaper exclusively obtained, gave the background into the new PSR and the circular issued by the HOCSF.
While Mrs Omorodion claimed her office did not receive a copy of the circular directing compliance, she also reported that an unnamed human resources director at the office of the head of the civil service of the federation said no MDA could deny the receipt of the circular.
"Enquiries on the matter from the Federal Ministry of Education and office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation revealed that the eight (8) years tenure for directors had been implemented and a director in an agency under the Ministry of Education who was affected had already retired. Furthermore, the Director, Human Resource at HOCSF stated that no MDA can deny the receipt of the circular or feign ignorance of its contents and added that anyone who claimed not to be aware of the circular had something to hide," Mrs Omorodion wrote.
Confusion
The acting director, however, noted that she was yet to understand if the deputy executive secretaries would be affected by the policy or not.
According to her, the difference in the salary scales used for the payment of the directors and the deputy executive secretaries was one of the reasons for the perceived confusion.
She wrote: "The circular indicated that a director or its equivalent by whatever nomenclature it is described shall compulsorily retire after 8 years on the post. However, the NUC Act. CAP. N81 provides for the appointment of a Deputy Executive Secretary to assist the Executive Secretary in the exercise of his duties. It is noteworthy to state that the salary scale for the post of Deputy Executive Secretary in the Commission is CONTOPSAL, while that of a Director is CONTISS 16 and appointment to the position of DES is on availability of vacancy and seniority (the most senior Director).
"The post of a Director and DES are two distinct appointments. Therefore, the 8 years tenure for Director does not affect the Deputy Executive Secretary Secretary. However, the Directorate would seek further clarification on the status/nomenclature of the DES from the office of Head of Civil Service of the Federation immediately."
HR director's recommendation
Mrs Omorodion said following the established fact, the "non-compliance with the provisions of the Public Service Rules (2021) and circular would amount to breach of rules and regulations since MDAs had been instructed to ensure full compliance effective 27th July, 2023."
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"Consequently, any director who has spent 8 years and above in the National Universities Commission would be required to commence retirement activities in full compliance with all provisions of the Public Service Rules (PSR) 2021 and the contents of the above-mentioned circular," she recommended.
Conclusion
PREMIUM TIMES learnt that the meeting concluded to await the findings by the human resources unit to decide on the fate of the concerned officials. It is, however, not clear if Mrs Goddy-Nnady will be asked to vacate her office as suggested by Mrs Omorodion's position paper.
Meanwhile, offcials at the FME who craved anonymity argued that the deputy executive secretaries "were only trying to buy time."
"We will await their next joker. How could you say the rule doesn't apply to DES? By December, Saliu is expected to clock 60 and will retire," another source, who craved anonymity, told PREMIUM TIMES. "Will he say because he is DES he will not retire? Was he not appointed DES because he is a director? And the funny thing is that there is a precedent. Politicians aren't the problem of this country but civil servants."
