Bauchi principal, teacher demoted for vandalising public property

The Bauchi State Teachers’ Service Commission has approved the immediate removal of the principal of Government Day Secondary School, Kirfi, Malam Musa Ahmed Ningi, for gross misconduct. A senior master at the school, Malam Adamu Shehu, was also removed for conspiring with the principal to sell school property. The items reportedly sold include 32 scrapped […]

The Bauchi State Teachers’ Service Commission has approved the immediate removal of the principal of Government Day Secondary School, Kirfi, Malam Musa Ahmed Ningi, for gross misconduct.

A senior master at the school, Malam Adamu Shehu, was also removed for conspiring with the principal to sell school property.

The items reportedly sold include 32 scrapped student beds, nine jumbo aluminium pots, and an unspecified number of roofing sheets.

A statement signed by the overseeing permanent secretary of the commission, Garba Muhammad Bashe, said a four-man committee found both officers guilty of the allegations.

It said the misconduct committed by the two officers contravenes Section 0313 of the Bauchi State Civil Service Regulations (Revised Edition 2023). 

As a result, the commission has approved their demotion by one grade level and reassignment to different schools as classroom teachers.

The statement also said the affected teachers are required to refund the sum of N597,000, representing the value of the vandalised items.

The principal is further mandated to pay N72,000 as outstanding allowances owed to the school’s casual workers.

The commission also pledged to work with security agencies to recover the stolen items.

Daily Trust gathered that upon receiving reports of the incident, the commission constituted a four-member committee comprising its staff and representatives from the All Nigeria Conference of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS) and the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT).

Daily Trust further learnt that while the principal has been demoted to a regular classroom teacher, the senior master has also been reduced to the rank of an ordinary teacher.

Affected teachers were treated fairly – ANCOPSS

The President of the All Nigeria Conference of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS), Bauchi State Chapter, Alhaji Rabi’u Shehu Illela, expressed satisfaction with the disciplinary action taken against the affected principal.

Illela said, “Everything was done fairly and in our presence. I represented ANCOPSS during the committee’s sitting, and the process was transparent. The accused were invited, appeared before the committee, and were given the opportunity to defend themselves, but they admitted to the allegations.

“To be honest, the committee tempered justice with mercy; the gravity of the offences warranted outright dismissal. If the principal had been innocent, ANCOPSS would not have stood by silently. But since he was guilty, we support the punishment.”

Efforts to obtain a reaction from the Bauchi State chapter of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) were unsuccessful, as both the union’s chairman and secretary failed to respond to multiple calls from our reporter.

However, Daily Trust learned that the NUT secretary was present and represented the union during the committee’s proceedings.