The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has called for the reinstatement of 1,500 teachers who were fired by Governor Ademola Adeleke.
The teachers had been employed by the previous government under Adegboyega Oyetola.
The APC in a statement by its acting chairman, Mr. Tajudeen Lawal, on Monday in Osogbo, argued that the state governor’s decision to fire the teachers was wrong and unfair.
Governor Adeleke had on his assumption of office issued an Executive Order nullifying the employment of 1,500 teachers that was hurriedly done by Oyetola.
Oyetola had engaged them on July 17th 2022, a day after the declaration of the Osun governorship election results.
The statement reads, “It is counterproductive for any government at all levels to politicize educational policy as its unintended boomerang effects would have a devastating result on the innocent pupils and students as it is the subsisting case with the Governor Ademola Adeleke administration.
“Governor Adeleke took the decision out of hatred and vindictiveness as anything that has to do with his predecessor, former Governor Gboyega Oyetola, was reversed.
“Since those recruited teachers are indigenes of Osun State and were duly employed during the statutory tenure of his predecessor, Governor Adeleke has no reason not to reconsider his earlier mistake of relieving the innocent teachers of their employment.”
In response, Olawale Rasheed, the governor’s spokesperson, responded that the government was aware of the open positions in Osun schools and that staff auditing across the state’s public service had already begun with a plan to fill the positions in the state’s education, health, and other subsectors.
Rasheed noted that Adeleke had previously issued a directive for the compilation of teacher vacancies in the state and that the audit report will serve as a solid basis for the hiring of new educators and healthcare professionals in the state.