COEASU to minister: FCE Gusau provost has refused to resign despite ‘document forgery’

The Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) says Hauwa’u Abdulkarim, provost of the Federal College of Education (Technical) in Gusau, Zamfara state, has refused to vacate office despite the forgery allegation against her.

Smart Olugbeko, the president of COEASU, also alleged that Abdulkarim forged the promotion documents that qualified her to be appointed as the provost of the college by the federal government.

In a statement sent to TheCable, Olugbeko said the education ministry has failed to enforce Abdulkarim’s resignation for over six months since the allegation came to the fore.

Daily Trust had reported that a December 2023 letter from the education ministry pointed out that one of the “cardinal eligibility criteria” for being appointed as a provost is that an academic must have served as a college “chief lecturer” for a cumulative period of five years.

The letter was quoted to have stated that Abdulkarim had not served the stipulated period at the time of her application for the post.

“FME investigative committee’s finding that you only got your promotion to the post of chief lecturer in 2023, contrary to your representation to the college’s council selection board that you got the said promotion in 2017,” the letter partly read.

“This fact/finding was equally corroborated by your (former) employer, Shehu Shagari College of Education vide your records of service made available to the committee.”

Olugbeko said Abdulkarim has refused to vacate office as provost despite the misrepresentation alleged by the education ministry.

The COEASU president said the ministry has “condoned” her continued stay in office “in defiance of the resignation order” of 2023.

“The ministry’s directive for her resignation was on the premise that she forged her letter of promotion for her to be qualified to be appointed the provost,” Olugbeko said.

“Six months after the directive, she has neither resigned nor vacated her office. She continued to superintend over the institution, taking critical decisions as provost.

“The union is worried that the ministry’s obvious inaction on the matter, which has emboldened the woman to hang on to office, portends grave implications on not only the education of the students but also their ethical training.”

Olugbeko called on Tahir Mamman, the minister of education, to intervene.

“It is imperative that appointments within our educational institutions are based on merit, competency, and adherence to established qualifications criteria,” he added.

“We trust that the honourable minister will act swiftly and decisively to rectify this situation and uphold the integrity of the college of education system.”