Governor vows to prosecute officials for illegal recruitment of teachers

Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State has vowed to hand over suspended officials of the state Teachers’ Service Commission (NSTSC) to the anti-corrupt agencies.

This comes after an investigative panel indicted the officials of receiving bribes from job applicants and recruiting over 1,000 teachers without authorisation.

PREMIUM TIMES reported in December 2024 that the governor suspended the chairman and board members of the Commission over the issue.

In a statement by his social media assistant, Godwin Rimi, on Thursday, the governor said the suspended officials deserve punishment in line with the law.

“These people, we would report them to the security agencies because this is beyond administration. 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 said.

Governor Sule said the NSTSC recruited 3,277 teachers when 1,000 were approved, questioning how the state would accommodate and pay the teachers.

He stressed that the recruitment exercise was not based on merit, resulting in unqualified teachers being employed.

“How do we accommodate 3, 277 teachers today in Nasarawa State? Where are you going to get the money to pay them? Where are you posting them?

“That is not even the biggest worry. The biggest worry is that the entire exercise was not done on merit, which means we have engaged people who are not qualified to be posted as teachers.”

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The governor appealed to the people of the state to understand that the future of their children was at stake, so they should not view the matter with political considerations.

He said his administration would pay the teachers recruited outside the official 1,000 but would terminate their appointments with those lacking the requisite qualifications.

The incident highlights concerns over corruption and unethical conduct in the recruitment process, potentially jeopardising the state’s efforts to improve education standards, the statement said.