A major row has broken out in Osun State after Governor Ademola Adeleke deployed 1,750 ad-hoc teachers to public schools across the state. The move, announced earlier this week, has sparked criticism from the All Progressives Congress, which accuses the governor of gambling with the future of schoolchildren.
The APC described the policy as “a reckless experiment” and accused the governor of “putting confusion before competence”.
In a statement signed by the party’s spokesperson, Kola Olabisi, the APC said, “It defies logic how a government that is wasting billions on unnecessary flyovers and buying luxury vehicles for cabinet members can turn around and send untrained teachers into classrooms.”
Olabisi said the decision undermines the many qualified teaching applicants already waiting to be absorbed into the system. “What will happen to the thousands who sat for interviews and have been waiting for appointment letters that never came?” he asked. “This is a collective disaster for education in Osun.”
The party added that Adeleke’s government had failed to prioritise the education sector three years into its tenure.
But the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party has defended the decision, describing the new teachers as “properly trained” and the policy as “a necessary stop-gap”.
In a counter-statement, PDP spokesperson Oladele Bamiji blamed the recruitment delay on what he called “the illegal withholding of Osun local government funds” by the APC-led Federal Government.
“Those ad-hoc teachers are working under supervision. The reason we haven’t employed full-time teachers is because APC is blocking Osun’s local government allocations,” Bamiji said.
He added, “Let it be clear: APC is fighting to stall Osun’s progress. But we won’t stop. Osun must break free from backwardness.”
The PDP accused the opposition of deliberately frustrating development projects across the state and promised voters would respond at the polls.
“Osun people will not forget this. They will defend their mandate next year and vote for progress, not sabotage,” Bamiji said.
