Abstract
The study investigated current issues in performance principal??(TM)s administrative functions in secondary schools in Gombe state. Three research questions were formulated to guide the study. Survey design was adopted. This study was carried out in some selected secondary schools in Gombe state. The instrument used was a questionnaire to the Principal Administrative Skills Survey Questionnaire (PASSQ). Sample size of fifty secondary schools was selected by random sampling from selected secondary schools located in Gombe State, Nigeria. Out of 50 secondary schools, (24 are Private secondary schools and 26 are Government secondary schools). Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the data through mean and standard deviation. The results revealed that a leadership skill needed by principals is moderate with the grand mean of 3.61 Personnel management skills by the grand mean of 3.52. Financial management skills needed by principals is moderate grand mean of 3.34. It was concluded that the instructional leadership skills needed by principals for effective schools??(TM) administration include among others: principal co-operating with teachers to define objectives, principal providing facilities, supervising lesson plans, teaching and learning activities, evaluating curriculum plan and implementation. The study recommended that the modern-day school principals should be knowledgeable, professionally and administratively competent. Government should make provision for sponsoring principals and organizing conferences for them to serve as incentive for means for professional growth.