BIG STORY

By

Managing Editor
_______________________________________

There is seeming to be a serious confusion at the Zamfara state Hospital Service Management Board as two heads emerged, namely Executive Chairman and Executive Secretary respectively.

The confusion started when the Secretary to the Board Comr. Bashir Mafara approached the sitting Chairman and informed him that he was appointed by the Head of Service as the New Executive Secretary to the Board.

Mustapha Muhammad Anka who is the serving Executive Chairman appointed by Governor Bello Matawalle since last year, resisted the posting of Bashir Mafara on the ground that there was no formal communication from the Governor through the office of the SSG ordering his removal as the Executive Chairman of the Board.

“I was appointed by the Governor through the office of the SSG and if for any reason I shall be removed there supposed to be a formal communication from the Governor through the SSG ordering for either my removal or redeployment to another place and that was not done’’

Mustapha Anka added“ Mr Mafara one day came to my office and showed me a letter that he was appointed as the new Executive Secretary to the board and that I should hand over the affairs of the board to him and I told him it was not done that way please go back and ask them to issue me with a letter of redeployment and I will hand over to you but without that letter I am not going anywhere”.

Despite the refusal of Mr. Anka to hand over the affairs of the board to him, Bashir Mafara according to some unverified information, proceeded to mobilize the staff of the board for the commencement of a tour of some health facilities in the state and this medium was informed that on Tuesday he led a team of the staff of the board for inspection of the State Psychiatric Hospital Anka, General Hospital Anka as well as Anka Emirate Council.

Reacting to that development Mustapha  Anka insisted that “I am still the Chairman and Bashir has no power to conduct a tour as the head of the ZHSMB because I was not removed officially as the Chairman of the board”.

A staff of the board who does not want his name in print explained that the whole confusion started when the office of the Head of Service started an illegal amendment process of the principal act establishing the board.

The intention of the amendment process started by the office of the Head of service was to revoke the autonomy of the board and reduce the status of the headship of the board to Executive Secretary as against Chairman.

The process was faulted vehemently by the stakeholders as appropriate procedures were not followed in the championing the amendment process.

In one of the response to the FOI letter sent to the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Nasiru Mu’azu Magarya by this medium early February this year, the Speaker regretted the steps taken in the amendment process and assured that it will be reversed in the interest of the people of Zamfara state.

A senior staff of the state house of assembly who does not want his name on the print also explained that the amendment of the principal act establishing the ZHSMB was made out of the pressure from the office of the Head of Service as many legitimate legislative procedures were bye passed to please the interest of someone who wanted to be appointed as the head of that place certainly.

After the conduct of the 2023 gubernatorial election, the office of the head of service allegedly renewed the move and still went ahead to issue a posting letter for an executive secretary when the executive chairman was neither removed nor redeployed to another place.

The Chairman was recently appointed as the Permanent Secretary in the service of the state by Governor Bello Matawalle and since his elevation to the rank of Permanent Secretary he was not posted out of that place by the Head of Service or the Governor that appointed him.

Despite that gap established, the Head of Service ought to have sought for the approval of the Governor to allow for deployment of the Executive Chairman to another ministry so that a vacancy can be established to warrant for the posting of another head of the board.

Despite the refusal to deploy Mr. Anka out of the HSMB the Head of Service added into the confusion by deploying another person to head the place when official communication was not made to the serving Chairman on where his new place of work would be.

When contacted Comr. Bashir Mafara said he has less to say since he was only issued with a letter of posting as Executive Secretary of the board by the office of the Head of Service and only that office can resolve the crises.

He referred this medium to the office of the Head of Service for further clarification.