The Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists has rejected the appointment of Babajide Salako as the chairman of the Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSCN).

Casmir Ifeanyi, the association’s president, said at a press conference on Monday in Abuja that Mr Salako’s appointment breached the act setting up the council.

He, therefore, urged President Bola Tinubu to withdraw Mr Salako’s appointment and nominate another qualified person to replace him.

Mr Ifeanyi said Mr Salako had not met the criteria for appointment to the position as spelt out in section 3, Subsection 1(a) of the Act CAP (M25) LFN 2004.

He said the act provided that the council’s chairman must be a “qualified fellow of the council with five years post qualification experience.

“The person shall be appointed by the president on the recommendation of the minister from a list of names of the fellows submitted by the council (in this Act referred to as ‘the Association’),” he said.

According to him, Mr Salako’s appointment has not fulfilled any of the credentials enunciated in section 3 of the act.

Mr Ifeanyi said that the association was shocked “at the brazen violation of the above section of the law, without recourse to the list of names submitted by the council in compliance with the law.

“We call on the NASS to investigate the appointment of Mr Salako as chairman of the governing board of MLSCN.

“The message conveyed by the purported appointment is simply that laws made by the legislature and duly signed by the president can be disobeyed by highly placed government officials only to achieve private goals.”

He also called on Mr Tinubu to urgently correct the mistake by retracting Mr Salako’s appointment and adhering to the law in announcing a replacement. 

(NAN)