The feud between Bauchi State government and the Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUSS) has taken a new dimension as the state government plans to replace the teachers.

Chairman of the state Teachers Service Commission,  Alhaji Yahaya Baba, said over 20,000 people have applied for jobs as teachers, and that the government plans to carry out a recruitment exercise following the refusal of secondary school teachers to call off their strike.

“Government directed TSC to terminate the appointment of any teacher who failed to resume duty last Monday and the state government is making plans to replace them. Already, the Ministry of Education has requested for 3,000 teachers, while the state’s education board requested for 2,000 teachers. If the striking teachers refuse to resume duties, we have no option than to terminate their appointments and replace them with those we have on ground, but the commission will ensure that they are given their due entitlements and retirement benefits,” he said.

He said the commission is waiting for further directives from the state government in regards to the termination of appointments of the striking secondary school teachers, because according to him, no teacher can hold the government to ransom.

But chairman of ASSUS, Comrade Abdullahi Tanko Ningi, on his part, is urging the state government to sack the commissioner of justice, Barrister Almustapha Suleiman Hassan, for what he called ineptitude and breach of oath of office.

Ningi alleged that the commissioner advised the government to terminate the appointment of any teacher who did not resume work last Monday, while the matter is still pending in court. He said by doing so, the government clearly showed that it’s the complainant, the prosecutor and at the same time the judge in the matter.

Ningi called on the striking teachers not to resume work until government meets their demands.

He maintained that there would be no national examination in Bauchi State if the state government fails to meet their demands.