Governor Emmanuel Udom of Akwa Ibom state has sacked about 5,000 teachers who were employed under the administration of former governor Godswill Akpabio.
The governor said that there were many irregularities in the recruitment process, adding that he will not to bow to sentiments.
He explained that a syndicate was involved in the recruitment exercise and was issuing fake appointment letters to thousands of unqualified applicants.
He said: “It was discovered that the syndicate which had since been apprehended was involved in printing fake letters of appointment and fake school certificates at outrageous amounts ranging from N150,000 to N200,000.
“Even the Bible says if the foundation is not right, what can the righteous man do? We have tried to see how we could get something out of that recruitment process, but believe me, the foundation was very faulty.
“If we are putting people to teach our children, please let us leave sentiments apart and go for the right people. We need to make sure they went through the right process and have the right qualifications.”
The governor assured affected persons who have the necessary qualifications that they would be considered when a fresh recruitment exercise is organised.
“We are assuring the 5,000 people that they need not worry, when we are calling for aptitude test, you need not re-apply, just walk into the venue of the exercise with that appointment letter and justify that you are qualified to teach our children,” he said.
There were already rumuors making the rounds that the Governor may have fallen out with his predecessor, Akpabio, who is currently the Minority leader at the Nigerian Senate.