Akwa Ibom lawmaker accuses government, SSEB of fraudulent teachers recruitment
By Itoro Bassey
A member of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly representing Nsit Atai State Constituency, Mr Mark Esset, has described the recently conducted teachers recruitment into the State Secondary Education Board (SSEB) as a monumental fraud.
Speaking on the subject at plenary, on Tuesday, Esset, in his matter of urgent public importance, accused the Akwa Ibom State Government and SSEB of superintending a lopsided and illicit recruitment exercise.
Esset expressed worry that handlers of the exercise did not provide a level playing ground for all candidates who applied, as so many applicants never saw their results, while some of those who scored 80 per cent and above were not shortlisted for oral interview.
Esset therefore called for the immediate suspension or cancellation of the exercise.
Akwa Ibom lawmaker accuses government, SSEB of fraudulent teachers recruitment
Responding, the Speaker of the House, Aniekan Bassey, who noted that the exercise was still ongoing, said he did not know how Mr Esset came about the idea of the exercise being lopsided.
Speaker Bassey mandated the House committee on Education to investigate the matter and report back to the House.
Over 45,000 applicants had applied to be considered for employment as teachers, following the directive by Governor Udom Emmanuel to SSEB to employ no fewer than 1000 graduate teachers in public secondary schools across the 31 local government areas of the state in a bid to reduce the current unemployment situation in the state.
Some of the applicants who were not invited for the oral interview had alleged that the exercise was not done on merit, saying that the 1000 slots were shared among top politicians and highly connected people in the state to the detriment of the masses.
More details to come.
