The Nasarawa State Government has uncovered the illegal recruitment of 2,277 teachers by the state’s Teachers Service Commission, far exceeding the 1,000 positions approved by Governor Abdullahi Sule.
According to The PUNCH, the discovery follows mounting allegations of recruitment irregularities within the commission, prompting the suspension of key officials to allow for an independent inquiry.
While receiving the committee’s report at the Government House in Lafia, Governor Sule expressed disappointment over the unauthorized hiring, stating that the suspended officials had acted beyond their mandate.
“These people, we would report them to the security agencies because this is beyond administration,” he said. “The aspect of them collecting money from people, I don’t even have the power to handle that. The security agencies should be involved to see how these innocent children should get back their money.”
The governor revealed that desperate applicants were reportedly made to pay between N500,000 and N700,000 to secure employment, a practice he strongly condemned.
Governor Sule emphasized that the recruitment scandal jeopardizes efforts to improve education in the state.
“Nasarawa State, like many other northern states, has struggled with education. When they list states that are backward in education, we are among them,” he said. “We have made some progress, but with this kind of malpractice, we risk undoing those gains.”
He also questioned the capacity of the state to accommodate and pay 3,277 new teachers when there are limited vacancies.
“This exercise is a complete disaster,” he added. “If we employ 3,000 teachers, no rural school should have only two or three teachers. But how do you employ teachers without knowing where to post them?”
To address the irregularities, the governor hinted at a possible fresh selection process for the entire 3,277 recruits to ensure that only the most qualified 1,000 teachers are retained.
“The most important thing is not politics but the education of our children,” he stated. “We cannot build a progressive society without educated people, and we cannot have educated people unless we have the right teachers.”
While responding to the committee’s recommendation that all illegal recruits should be paid, Governor Sule assured that those who had already been posted to schools would receive their salaries before their appointments are terminated.
“I assure you that all those who have been posted to schools, we would pay them. But we would not keep them,” he said. “If you have 200 or 300 teachers in a school that only needs 40, you are not helping the state.”
Presenting the findings, the chairman of the investigative committee, Silas Dachor, confirmed that the TSC had defied the governor’s directive and recruited more than three times the approved number of teachers.
“The recruitment did not reflect the needs of the school system,” Dachor noted. “There was no fair spread across local government areas, and worst of all, it was not based on merit.”
The report further described the process as riddled with “inconsistent documentation, haphazard procedures, and unethical practices.” It was alleged that applicants were directed to make payments into a designated bank account to secure employment.
In conclusion, the committee recommended that the government implement strict measures to restore credibility to the recruitment process.
Governor Sule commended the committee for its thorough investigation and pledged to take decisive steps to safeguard the integrity of the state’s education system.
