The Chairman, House Committee on Education, Hon. Daniel Ogazi, has urged the management of Isa Mustapha Agwai Polythecnic, Lafia to absorb academic and non academic casual staff who have been working in the institution for a long period of time before considering other fresh applicants in its ongoing recruitment exercise.
Ogazi made the plea in Lafia before the State House Assembly Committee on Education for its 2021 budget assessment.
NewsSpecng gathered that no fewer than 5,540 applicants have applied for the 100 vacancies approved by the Nasarawa State government at the institution.
Rector of the Polythecnic, Dr. Justina Kotso, made the disclosure in Lafia when the management of the institution appeared before the State House Assembly.
She explained that the Polythecnic was able to screen the 5,540 applicants and 767 of them were qualified for the job, out of which are 400 first class graduates.
However, Ogazi said that even though the number of persons the institution intended to recruit were not much, absorbing the casual lecturers was in the interest of Justice, fairness, peace and for the overall development of the polytechnic.
“I want to commend you for being up and doing in taking the institution to the greater height. On the issue of the ongoing employment in the institution, I want to urge you to consider and give priority to those casual lecturers and other staff that have been working for a long period of time in the institution.
“Some of them have been working as casual staff for many years and now that the government has approved for employment, I urge you to absorb them before you consider fresh applicants”, he added.
Hon. Ogazi called on the state government to give more attention to the development of the institution while assuring that the committee would continue to collaborate with government in order to take the institution to greater heights.
