Governor Abdullahi Sule has inaugurated a four-man committee to investigate irregularities in the recent recruitment of teachers by the Nasarawa State Teachers Service Commission (NSTSC).
Governor Sule inaugurated the committee at a ceremony at the Government House on Thursday.
The governor charged the members of the committee to live above board and to discharge their responsibilities diligently without fear or favour and to justify the confidence reposed in them.
He described as worrisome revelations that officials of government handling the recruitment went overboard to recruit far beyond the number of teachers already approved, leading to the immediate suspension of the chairman and members of the teachers service commission.
“This situation is worrisome and capable of denting the image of the government and indeed of the state, if nothing is done to ensure accountability, transparency and due diligence in the conduct of government business. It is for this reason that it becomes absolutely necessary to constitute this all-important committee to investigate the matter in order to ascertain the claim,” he said.
Governor Sule recounted the efforts of his administration since inception in 2019 towards transforming the educational sector for socioeconomic development of the state, including the setting up of various committees to look into the challenges confronting all the levels of education in the state.
He pointed out that the reports of these committees clearly indicated so much shortfall in the teaching manpower in our secondary schools, aside from the need for infrastructural development.
“The recommendations of these committees resulted in the recruitment of over 8000 teaching and non-teaching staff into our educational system. It is important to state that, even with the recruitment of this number, the government still observes the gap in the teaching personnel in both primary and secondary schools. This informed our decision to give approval for the recruitment of an additional 1000 teaching staff to fill the vacuum in our secondary schools,” he added.
While acknowledging that the approved 1000 teachers were dully recruited and posted to various schools across the state, matters however arose after these workers were paid their first salary.
“I am aware that the recruited one thousand workers have started enjoying their salaries. It is rather disturbing to note that after the payment of the 1000 approved teachers, some citizens of the state raised concerns of non-payment of salaries to so many other teachers who have received appointment letters and posted to various schools in the state,” he stated.
The four-man Investigative committee is to be chaired by a former permanent secretary, Mr. Silas J. Dachor, with Hajiya Fatu Jimeta, a former commissioner of education, Dr. Yusuf Alfa Danya, a former board chairman of the Federal Polytechnic Baale as members, while Belinda A. Oyegbenu, Permanent Secretary, Establishment and Manpower Development, Office of the Head of Civil Service, will serve as secretary.
According to the Governor, the investigative committee which has two weeks within which to submits its report, has the following as its terms of reference; determine the recruitment process and the total number of those recruited based on the approval given, confirm if there were other teachers recruited outside the approved number and those involved with their degree of involvement.
Also, determine the number of teachers posted, the schools they were posted to and if they have resumed in those schools, ascertain the teachers who have been posted and are yet to be paid, with the correspondent financial implications, determine the financial implications of both paid and unpaid teachers, as well as make any other recommendations that may be relevant to guide government in taking appropriate decisions.
“I learned that even those who were paid, were paid just for one month and there are still outstanding two months or three months. That would be another of your terms of reference as well,” he said.
He explained further that his administration is not pushing the committee hard by asking it to submit a report in two weeks but in order to address the non-payment of teachers who have been working for months without receiving salaries.
We are not pushing this committee unnecessarily hard. It is because indeed if there are people who have worked for several months without being paid, I don’t even know how they take care of their families. That is the reason we are rushing to conclude this as earlier as possible so we can resolve this and be able to compensate people appropriately,” he said.
Earlier, in an introductory remark, Secretary to the Government of Nasarawa State, Barrister Muhammad Ubandoma Aliyu, said the Investigative committee that is made up of technocrats, is part of the interventions by Governor Sule to ensure that the state civil service is crime free.
Barrister Aliyu commended the Governor for demonstrating exemplary leadership in running the affairs of Nasarawa State.
In a vote of thanks, Chairman of the committee, Mr. Silas J. Dachor, appreciated Governor Sule for finding them worthy of the appointment.
“The assignment is not an easy one because it is very very important that we do this assignment in order to get things right in the education sector. I want to thank you for the confidence that you repose in us. We want to assure Your Excellency that in line with your desire and in line with your vision, to ensure that things go well in the entire gamut of the service and in this particular case, the teaching profession. We are going to do this assignment with due diligence,” he stated.
Dachor assured that the committee would carry out it responsibility conscientiously and without fear or favour and to proffer recommendations that would not only be acceptable to the Governor and his administration but also useful in setting things right.
He, however, called on the citizens of the state to avail the committee with useful and relevant information that is capable of facilitating the work of the committee.
As part of the event, Governor Sule equally inaugurated the newly appointed Director General of the Nasarawa State Waste Management Development Agency, Mohammed Bello Isa.
