EXCLUSIVE: Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital Director Of Administration Buhari Zailani Accused Of Cutting His Age From 1969 To 1973, Parading As A Barrister Without Call To Bar And Occupying Office Without Transfer Of Service

Two separate petitions written one month apart and addressed to the Honourable Minister of the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in Abuja have accused Buhari Zailani, the Director of Administration of the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, of cutting four years off his own age, parading the title of Barrister without a call to bar, occupying his office without a transfer of service and keeping a personal file that holds none of the credentials the public service rules require of him.

The first petition, dated 26 September 2026 and written by the Zaria Network for Justice of No. 4 Bank Road, PZ Zaria in a letter signed by its Secretary, Barrister Dantani Garba Kadade, named Zailani as Director of Administration of the hospital on grade CONHESS 15, with his parent service at the Federal University of Education, Zaria, and recorded that he sits in the teaching hospital claiming to be on leave of absence from the university.

On the age charge, the Zaria Network for Justice stated that Zailani was employed with a date of birth of 1969 at the Federal College of Education, Zaria, and has now altered his record to 1973 in both the ABUTH Zaria and the FCE Zaria files to illegally elongate his service by four years, an act the petition tied to Public Service Rule 100402(b), which treats falsification of records as serious misconduct, and Rule 100402(c), which prohibits the alteration of date of birth after entering service and provides that any officer found altering his date of birth should be prosecuted.

On the barrister charge, the same petition stated that Zailani parades himself in ABUTH Zaria as Barrister Buhari Zailani and uses the title Barr. in official documents and on his nameplate, while his personal file at the hospital holds no record of a call to bar certificate, no law school certificate and no enrolment number at the Supreme Court of Nigeria, and the petitioners cited Public Service Rule 020203, which requires that all credentials be kept in an officer’s file, section 22 of the Legal Practitioners Act and section 179 of the Penal Code as the provisions the claim offends.

The second petition, dated 15 October 2026 and written by Barrister Abdullahi Halilu, a human rights activist in Zaria, carried the same law question from another side, recording that legal practitioners and concerned individuals have raised unresolved questions regarding Zailani’s legal qualifications, specifically that he did not complete or pass the Nigerian Law School, a position the petition stated would raise serious concerns regarding the authenticity and credibility of the credentials presented to the management of the hospital.

Both petitions charged that the Director of Administration has failed to submit his credentials for documentation and verification, the Zaria Network for Justice citing Public Service Rule 020204 and recording that his personal file in the open registry of ABUTH Zaria does not contain his credentials, and Halilu citing Public Service Rule 020801 on the same failure.

Halilu’s petition charged that Zailani was appointed Director of Administration at ABU Teaching Hospital without a proper transfer of service from his previous establishment, the Federal University of Education, Zaria, contrary to Federal Civil Service Rule 030401, and that he is attempting to present his first appointment date as 2nd May 2025 whereas available records indicate that he commenced service in January 1993 at the Federal College of Education, Zaria.

The Halilu petition further recorded that available records indicate that Zailani attained CONTEDISS 15, the grade equivalent to the rank of Director, on 1st October 2018 and has spent eight years on that grade, that his salary was stopped for three months and is now paid as non-regular, and that he did not complete and submit the form issued by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation under reference OHCSF/3065/Vol.1/225 of February 2025, which directed all officers on the rank of Director and its equivalent to complete the attached form on or before 20th April 2026.

On the treatment of staff, Halilu charged that Zailani has contributed to the delay of the 2026 promotion exercise for personal reasons to the hardship of eligible staff, that staff fear he may use his office to victimise certain employees during the exercise by denying qualified staff fair consideration and due process, and that he has used his official position to take assignments and make decisions based on personal interest, bias and selfish treatment of staff, while the Zaria Network for Justice charged him with victimising, threatening and denying promotion to qualified officers of the hospital while favouring his cronies, which it described as abuse of office contrary to Public Service Rule 100401 and section 19 of the ICPC Act 2000.

Halilu’s petition also charged a breach of seniority in the appointment of heads of department, stating that the directorate has appointed junior officers as heads of department while senior officers stand in those departments, against Public Service Rule 020908, which states that the most senior officer shall act pending substantive appointment, and it named the departments as Physiotherapy, Finance and Accounts, and Works and Maintenance, alongside a further charge of alteration and falsification of official records and documents with the intention of misleading the management of the hospital.

The prayers of the Zaria Network for Justice asked that the ICPC investigate the alteration of date of birth and prosecute Zailani under Public Service Rule 100402, that the Office of the Head of Service retrieve his two personal files at the Federal University of Education, Zaria and ABUTH Zaria to establish the two dates of birth and force him to refund salaries for overstay if any is established, that the Federal Ministry of Health direct the management of ABUTH to suspend him pending investigation and stop further victimisation of staff, and that the Nigerian Bar Association investigate his claim as a barrister and, if found false, prosecute him for impersonation.

Halilu’s petition asked the Ministry to independently verify and thoroughly investigate the allegations, and for the immediate retrieval and verification of Zailani’s service records from the Federal College of Education, Zaria and ABU Teaching Hospital, Zaria, covering his appointment, promotions, qualifications and every administrative document connected to his service history.

SecretsReporters can report that the hospital’s own official website carries Buhari Zailani as its Director of Administration under Chief Medical Director Professor Ahmed Umdagas Hamidu, and that Zailani has appeared in that office at public functions of the hospital through 2026, receiving guests and speaking for the Board of Management, the management and the staff of the hospital, while the two petitions calling for his suspension, the retrieval of his two personal files and his prosecution stand before the Minister of Health.

The Two Petitions Against Buhari Zailani