ICSAN opposes bill granting “chartered status” to APSSON

The Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN) has kicked against a proposed bill at the National Assembly seeking to grant “chartered status” to the Association of Professional Secretarial Staff of Nigeria (APSSON).

The President of the Institute, Bode Ayeku, who made this known in Lagos at a media Parley said the reason for the opposition was that the essential part of activities to be performed by members of the association constituted a subset of the functions of the ICSAN.

According to him, secretarial practice was part and parcel of the rights of the Institute as provided by the ICSAN Act 1991, adding that granting APSSON chartered status could also cause confusion in the public and duplication of responsibility, which would not make a good impression in the international community.

“Granting APSSON a chartered status would amount to giving them responsibilities already legally assigned to ICSAN. Section 13 of the Bill states that a person shall be deemed as a member of the Chartered Institute of Professional Secretarial Staff of Nigeria (CIPSSON) if: He is a practising secretary employed in the public or private sector or self-employed; holds himself out to the public as a professional secretarial practitioner; a retired professional secretarial staff.

“From our perspective, we can say that the kind of work under the nature and scope of activities of the category of workers envisaged as secretarial staff encompasses clerical work, activities of front desk officers, functions of Confidential Secretaries, and Personal Assistants.

“Granting chartered status to APSSON will confer on the members the prerogative of adding the distinctive adjective “Chartered” to their existing name to realize the compound term ‘Chartered Secretaries’ which is currently used by members of ICSAN.

“They can register as a labour union in order to protect the interest of their members, instead of seeking a charter which is not appropriate for them. We will, therefore, continue to monitor the progress of this bill,” he asserted.

Ayeku also commented on the recent approval by the Federal Executive Council to resuscitate the Port Harcourt refinery with a $1.5bn funding.

The ICSAN who described the decision as wasteful, advised the government to build modular refineries if it wants to increase domestic production of fuel.

“It’s better to build modular refineries than to rehabilitate old ones. Nigeria has wasted a lot in maintaining old but non- function refineries. The Federal Government should provide incentives to increase local production of petroleum products in order to conserve the nation’s foreign exchange for critical projects,”

Speaking on rising insecurity, he said the government must collaborate with developed and neighboring countries who have the right technology to assist Nigeria’s security agencies to fight insurgency and other security threats.

“There is a need for the deployment of technology such as drones, tracking devices, satellites in the management of insecurity in the country,” he added.

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