N700k Per Applicant: Inside Nasarawa government where officials sold appointment letters to 2,277

Nasarawa Governor Abdullahi Sule has outlined the alarming findings regarding the sale of appointment letters to approximately 2,277 economically disadvantaged applicants prior to their recruitment as teachers.

He issued a warning regarding the potential referral of suspended officials from the Nasarawa State Teachers’ Service Commission (NSTSC) to security agencies due to allegations of extortion related to employment applications.

This warning followed the receipt of a report from a committee established to investigate discrepancies in the recent teacher recruitment process conducted by the NSTSC, presented at the Government House. Governor Sule expressed his concern about the severity of the irregularities uncovered and articulated his obligation to escalate the matter to security agencies, particularly given the reported scheme in which financial compensation was solicited from applicants in return for appointment letters.

“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,” he said.

While expressing dismay over the findings of the investigative committee, the Governor said the suspended NSTSC officials have not been fair to the state because they went overboard to recruit 3, 277 teachers instead of the 1, 000 approved by his administration.

“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,” he said.

On the fate of the 2, 277 teachers recruited without approval, Sule said: “This exercise is a complete destruction. If we employ 3000 teachers, there is no way any school in the rural areas would have only two or three teachers. We employ people because of vacancies that exist. You can’t go employing teachers without knowing where to post them.”

He also showed concerns on the qualifications of the 1000 teachers officially recruited, adding that his administration may consider conducting a fresh selection process for the entire 3, 277 recruited teachers in order to be able to employ 1000 most qualified teachers.

“The most important thing is not about politics but about the education of our own children. This is beyond politics. We are not going to build a society until we have a society of people who are educated. We can not have a society of educated people unless we have the right teachers,” he stated.

Commenting on one of the recommendations of the committee seeking for the government to pay all those teachers employed and posted to schools, the Governor assured that his administration will pay all those recruited and posted outside the official 1000 and thereafter terminate their appointment.

“I assure you that all those who have been posted to schools, we would pay them. But we would not keep them. There is no way to keep them. If you posted 200 or 300 teachers to a school that requires only 40 teachers, you are really not helping the state. I’m not worried more about that than the fact that they are not qualified. They are not even qualified to be teachers,” he stated.

Presenting the report before Sule, Chairman of the investigative committee, Silas Dachor, said the committee discovered that the TSC willfully disobeyed the Governor’s instruction to recruit only 1000 teachers.

The Chairman added that the TSC went ahead to recruit 3, 277 teachers without necessary approval from the Governor.

“Indeed, there are hundreds of others in possession of appointment letters who are yet to be posted. This, to say the least, amounts to gross insubordination to His Excellency and a great disservice to the government and people of Nasarawa State.

“Furthermore, the committee found out that the recruitment did not in any way reflect the needs of the school system. Contrary to the rationale of the exercise, which was to fill existing vacancies.

“We also found out that the exercise did not show a fair spread across local government areas, and worst still, there was no evidence that the recruitment was based on merit. But merely selective, thus edging out other potential candidates,” he said.

Dachor added the recruitment exercise was more or less reduced to a racketeering venture, where desperate and unsuspecting applicants scramble for employment on cash and carry basis for the highest bidder.

“In relation to this, an Access Bank account was provided for interested applicants who were directed to pay in amounts ranging from N500, 000 to N700, 000 for what was termed appreciation to facilitate issuance of appointment letter,” he said.

He described the recruitment exercise conducted by the suspended NSTSC officials as being characterized by inconsistent documentation, harp hazard and abnormal procedures, and unethical practices, thereby raising serious concerns about transparency, accountability, credibility and fairness.