The appointment of a new Registrar of Pharmacists Council of Nigeria, PCN, has split the ranks of pharmacists in the irregularties in the filling  of the vacancy of the vacancy making the rounds.

The PCN recently interviwed applicants for the office of the Regustrar which resukted in the appointment of Mr Elijah Mohammed.

But a petition to the Minister of Health, obtained by Vanguard in Abuja, it was alleged that, Mohammed's appointment is in breach of relevant laws for appointment of the PCN Registrar.

The petition, dated June 10, 2014 and signed by a PCN member, Dr Paul Gar, draw the Minister's attention, "to a breach of Public Service Rule 020205 (a) by the Board of Pharmacists Council of Nigeria at her meeting of 28th May, 2014 where a decision was taken to appoint a new Registrar.

"The Appointee, who has no public service experience, is 54 years old and is therefore not eligible for fresh appointment into the Federal Public Service as provided by the Rule cited aboved", the petition noted: "The recruitment exercise itself was marred by other irregularities including the demand for receipts of payment of National Association of Hospital Pharmacists and Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria members of the Board Chairman, rather than the Ag Registrar/Secretary ti Council, and delivered via e-mail to the Appointee", he added.

Gar, therefore, called for cancellation/nullification of the recruitment exercise, "purportedly carried out by Pharmacists Council of Nigeria and the initiation of a new exercise.

Public Service Rule 020205 (a) specifies that fresh appointees in the services cannot be less than 18 years or more than 50 years old.