Ondo State governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has ordered an investigation into the issuance of fake appointment letters to applicants in the recent teacher recruitment exercise.
The directive follows a protest by aggrieved applicants at the Governor’s Office in Akure, the state capital, on Friday.
The recruitment exercise, aimed at employing 2,000 teachers for primary and secondary schools across the 18 local government areas of the state, had initially been welcomed by the applicants. However, some individuals reportedly received fake employment and posting letters from certain officials, leading them to believe they had been legitimately employed. Some applicants claimed they had been working for months without receiving salaries, prompting public outcry.
In a statement released on Saturday, Governor Aiyedatiwa’s chief press secretary, Ebenezer Adeniyan, clarified that those protesting were not officially employed teachers but victims of a scam.
According to the statement, the fraudulent letters were issued by external scammers in collusion with a few insiders at the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB). The affected applicants were identified during the biometric verification process, and their letters were declared invalid.
“These defrauded applicants were identified during the biometric verification process and informed that their letters were fake. Already, disciplinary action has been taken against three SUBEB insiders who allegedly colluded with external individuals to defraud the applicants,” Adeniyan said.
Governor Aiyedatiwa has directed SUBEB management to invite the victims of the fraud for a meeting as part of the ongoing investigation. A special committee has also been constituted to review the matter thoroughly, ensure no other applicants are affected, and provide recommendations to prevent future occurrences of fraud.
The statement emphasised that the over 2,000 teachers who were legitimately employed under the recruitment exercise have already commenced work and are receiving salaries.
The government underscored that the disciplinary measures and probe are intended to uphold transparency, fairness, and accountability in the recruitment process.
The investigation is ongoing, and the committee is expected to submit its findings in due course. The state government has assured that any individuals found culpable will face appropriate sanctions, reinforcing the message that fraudulent activities in public recruitment exercises will not be tolerated.
