By Staff Reporter

The Alliance for Truth and Democracy (ATD), Benue State chapter, has accused the administration of Governor Hyacinth Alia of politicising teacher recruitment ahead of the 2027 elections.

The allegation was contained in a statement signed by the group’s President, Jerome Zoho.

Zoho argued that the government should provide verifiable records to support public announcements concerning the recruitment of teachers.

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Governor Alia has publicly stated that his administration recruited more than 9,000 qualified teachers for primary schools, describing the process as having been conducted through Computer-Based Testing.

The state government and education officials have continued to cite the recruitment as a major intervention in basic education.

The ATD president, however, questioned the details behind the figures and demanded that the government publish the names of recruited teachers, their qualifications, deployment locations, employment dates and financial implications.

He also called for publication of the current wage bill of the state and local government workforce.

Zoho’s statement referred to the December 2024 controversy over the SUBEB recruitment exercise, when the Benue State House of Assembly ordered a temporary suspension and summoned the SUBEB chairman over concerns about the recruitment process.

The Assembly subsequently lifted the suspension after an ad-hoc committee completed its investigation. The committee reported that 74,574 candidates had applied, while 48,895 sat for the CBT and 7,224 were shortlisted for oral interviews.

The ATD said the episode showed why recruitment processes should be supported by accessible records and clear selection criteria.

Zoho further alleged that the government’s recruitment announcements were being used as part of a strategy to gain political advantage ahead of 2027.
The allegation is the position of the advocacy group and was not independently established by the sources reviewed for this report.

The organisation urged the government to publish comprehensive data on completed and proposed teacher recruitment exercises.

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It also called for information on the number of teachers currently on the payroll and the financial implications of maintaining the workforce.

Zoho said transparent disclosure would enable Benue residents to assess the government’s education interventions based on verifiable information rather than announcements alone.