Member PPSB, Egbe Emi Makes Clarifications On Cancellation Of Teachers Recruitment Exercise

By Preye Bagou, Yenagoa

The Cancellation Of The Purported Recruitment Exercise Of Teachers, Conducted By The Committee Set Up By The Honorable Commissioner For Education, Dr. Gentle Emelah

The Member representing Ekeremor Local Government Area in the Post Primary School Board (PPSB), Comrade Egbe Emi, has made clarifications on the cancellation of the teachers recruitment exercise.

Egbe while addressing newsmen in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa state capital on Monday 17th March, 2025, faulted the board committee constituted for the teachers recruitment exercise that it was done without following the public service rules basically.

The Post Primary Schools Board (PPSB) is the statutory board recognized by the state government that has the sole powers to conduct the recruitment exercise of teachers into the state civil service.

The Bayelsa State Senior Secondary Schools Board Law 2009, in section (7), sub-section (1) (a) states that:

“The recruitment, appointment, posting, promotion, discipline and transfer of both the academic and non-academic staff of government-owned senior secondary institutions;

“But in the case of Principals and Vice-Principals of Senior Secondary Schools, their promotions, transfers and discipline shall be made with the approval of the Commissioner for Education.”

As people functioning in institutions created by the government guided by laws, it is against public service rules not to follow due process to conduct an employment into the civil service of a state.

The Board is made up of the Chairman and seven other members whom are duly appointed by the Governor of Bayelsa State across the eight local government areas, hence any employment conducted outside the board amounts to nullity in the eyes of the law.

The number of persons approved by the state government to be employed were 950 persons, but the committee set up by the commissioner for education outside the official post primary schools board, recruited beyond the said number that resulted to the necessary cancellation of the recruitment exercise.

The cancellation was necessary for the fact that the needed assessment and due process, which was the directive and criteria to be followed for the employment exercise was deliberately overlooked and ignored.

The employment was done by the honorable commissioner’s committee on behalf of the board, whom the chairman of the board was made the chairman, despite the fact that there are other board members that meets the statutory requirements to conduct the recruitment exercise.

Although, as at when the committee was formed by the commissioner for information, two members of the post primary schools board where made members of the said committee, but the board members representing Ogbia LGA, Chief Savior Ibegi resigned his appointment as a board member for reasons that due process was not followed.

Furthermore, Chief Ibegi resigned because he said he has a name to protect, while the other board member, Engr. Degiteme Eteli played a docile role in the dark through the teachers recruitment exercise.

On the premise of the above, the whole recruitment exercise of teachers into the state civil service was done by the committee set up by the honorable commissioner for education, on behalf of the post primary school board, instead of the committee set up by the post primary schools board.

It is a monstrous injustice against the board members who where kept at bay, politically raped of their statutory functions, relegated to the background and denied access to the relevant informations during and after the recruitment exercise conducted by that committee in the name of the Post Primary Schools Board.

The burning question begging for answers is that, even if the honorable commissioner for education, is the supervisory head in the ministry of education, does he have the purview by Law to set up the recruitment committee and also to include people outside the membership of the Post Primary Schools Board for such an employment?

It has never happened before from the inception of the creation of Bayelsa State.

Hence, it is unfair to call the entirety of the board which was clearly not part of the process to take responsibility of this unfortunate circumstance, rather the committee set up by the honorable commissioner.

The honorable commissioner should be called and held accountable for the results of process they conducted and managed instead of the committee set up by the post primary schools board.

The committee which has subtly exonerated itself from this malady in the eyes of the public indeed put a spoke in the Board Members Wheel, which in turn served as a brick wall toward the success of the recruitment exercise.

It is a pity that this is happening to our people and the genuine efforts of our prosperity Governor to employ qualified Bayelsans into the Senior Secondary Schools is sabotaged, that has led to this unfortunate cancellation.

Comrade Egbe Emi
Member representing Ekelga, PPSB

Reporting: Hot News Reporters