Sheriff Oborevwori, the governor of Delta State, has given his approval for the hiring of elementary school teachers, secretaries, and watchmen in 22 local government areas.
At the conclusion of the State Joint Account Allocation Committee (JAAC) meeting on Friday in Asaba, Victor Ebonka, the Delta State Chairman of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), declared the approval to the media.
According to Ebonka, the recruitment will be based on each local government’s evaluation of its own needs; the consent was provided at the JAAC conference.
“At today’s JAAC meeting, His Excellency, Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, approved the immediate hiring of primary school teachers by 22 of the 25 local government councils in their respective Local Government Councils.
Because each local government council will take into account those who have retired from their councils, there won’t be a set number of jobs available. The number to hire will therefore differ from municipality to council.
“For the Local Government Education Authority, we are also hiring watchmen, clerical employees, and all other support personnel. This will significantly help with the issue of teacher shortages in our primary schools.
The ALGON CEO also refuted claims that the councils received a big windfall, stating that the amount they received for the month of July was typical.
He said: “At today’s JAAC meeting, His Excellency, Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, gave approval for 22 out of the 25 local government councils to immediately employ the services of primary school teachers in their respective Local Government Councils.
“This employment will not have a uniform number because each local government council will be considering those that have retired from their councils. So the number to employ will vary from council to council.
“We are also employing watchmen, clerical officers, and all other support staff for the Local Government Education Authority. This will go a long way in solving the problem of lack of teachers in our primary schools.”
The ALGON boss also debunked insinuations of a heavy windfall for the councils, saying the allocation they got for the month of July was not unusual.
“We heard from the rumour mill that about N1.9 trillion will be distributed for the month of July. I want to let you know that we just rose from the JAAC meeting.
“What you heard was just a rumour. There is nothing unusual about the allocation distributed for the month of July. Although, it is higher than what we had several years ago,” he said.
He further spoke on the N40 billion loan facility for pension payments.
“About the N40 billion facility, all the necessary steps and processes have been completed, and even the one per cent management fee has been paid. We strongly believe that we will be able to access the money next month.
“Like we said before, we are going to be paying all of the funds that we will access directly to the pensioners. The forensic experts that we have engaged are presently auditing the accounts to ensure that the actual accruals are paid to the pensioners,” he stated.