A House of Representatives committee yesterday ordered a former permanent secretary in the Federal Ministry of Education, Dr Jamila Shu’ara, to refund salaries and entitlements she received for one year over illegal extension of service.

The committee also directed the Head of Service of the Federation (HoS), Mrs Winifred Oyo-Ita, to invoke relevant Civil Service rules to recover, within four weeks, all the emoluments Shu’ara collected within the period of the extension.

Shu’ara was supposed to retire from service on February 17, 2016 after attaining the mandatory retirement age of 60, but she had her tenure extended to February, 2017.

After the expiration of the extension, her tenure was said to be extended further for one year through a letter by the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari.

In the letter addressed to the HoS, the COS said Shu’ara’s second extension of service was under a special dispensation that should not be cited as a policy. But members of the committee faulted the content of the letter, saying the chief of staff to the president could not cite the Constitution on one hand only to turn and say it should not be cited as a policy. (Daily Trust)

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