Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja has summoned the National Board for Technical Education, NBTE, and the Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria, PCN, to appear before him and explain the rationale behind their move to scrap the award of Higher National Diploma, HND, Pharmaceutical Technology in all institutions in Nigeria.
The judge ordered them to appear before him on Friday, August 16, 2024, for their defence.
The decision of the judge followed a complaint by six plaintiffs against the decisions of the two defendants in their bid to discontinue the issuance of HND certificates in Pharmaceutical Technology.
The NBTE had, in a circular dated April 7, 2024, resolved to discontinue the award of HND certificate in Pharmaceutical Technology in all institutions under its control.
In the circular, NBTE indicated that it will henceforth stop granting approval and accreditation of HND in Pharmacy Technician Programme but will, however, continue to grant approval and accreditation for National Diploma in Pharmacy Technology.
The circular, signed by the Executive Secretary of NBTE, Prof. Idris Bugaje, after a ministerial meeting in the Federal Ministry of Education in Abuja, said that all students currently studying Pharmacy Technology programme will be allowed to graduate but that there will be no fresh admissions as of April 2024.
The circular also indicated that graduates of Pharmacy Technology may have no place in clinical settings, according to PCN but can seek employment in other sectors.
Not satisfied by the decision, the six plaintiffs, through their lawyer, Wumi Adebayo, had approached the court in an ex-parte application seeking an order of interim injunction restraining the two defendants from implementing or giving effect to the circular that sought to discontinue the HND programme in Pharmacy Technology.
After listening to the argument of the six plaintiffs, the judge drew their attention to their failure to make the Minister of Education a party in their suit since the decision to discontinue the HND certificate was at the instance of the minister.
Justice Lifu thereafter ordered them to go and amend their processes to accommodate the necessary parties because of the national and sensitive nature of the request being made from the court.
Upon amending their processes, the judge ordered them to serve the same on the defendants, who must appear in court along with the plaintiffs on August 16, 2024, to show cause why the request should not be granted.
In an enrolled order, Justice Lifu said: “Considering the national nature of this case, I hereby invoked Order 26, Rule 8 of the 2019 rules of this court to order the defendants to show cause latest by Friday, August 16, 2024, while the reliefs being sought herein should not be granted as prayed in the motion ex parte.”
Plaintiffs in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/911/2024 are Abdul Aziz Bello, AbdulRasheed Tanimu, Osaro Odeh, Comrade Olufemi Adebisi, Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria and the National Association of Pharmaceutical Technologists and Pharmacy Technicians of Nigeria.
The two defendants are NBTE and PCN.