TheCable

The Akwa Ibom state government has described as mischief makers people suggesting that the state is yet to reabsorb the 5,000 teachers sacked in the twilight of the current administration.

The teachers were sacked on ground of alleged fake credentials and other irregularities observed in the recruitment process.

According to the state government, those qualified among the teachers were reabsorbed in 2017 while the state has since recruited more teachers since then.

Speaking at a press conference in Uyo, the state capital, Ekere Akpan, head of civil service in the state, said the affected teachers, whose appointment letters were dated April 1, 2015, were hurriedly recruited by the administration of Godswill Akpabio, former governor of the state, a month before his exit.

The teachers did not receive posting to schools from April 2015 to October 2016 though they were duly issued letters of appointment.

Akpan said the government screened and re-validated the affected teachers, adding that the government decided to open another window of opportunity for the teachers after they submitted their original credentials.

She said that the government also set up a committee to ascertain the total number of staff inherited from the six privately owned community schools taken over by the government in 2012 and had absorbed all the bonafide teaching and non-teaching staff as identified by the community.