The Delta Government has disowned over 700 academic and non-academic staff of some tertiary institutions whose names were not in the state’s payroll over ‘illegal’ employment.

The state’s Commissioner for Higher Education, Mr Jude Sinebe, announced this at a news conference in Asaba on Wednesday.

The commissioner said there was no provision for such employment before the staff were engaged.

“In tertiary institutions, we don’t just employ workers for the sake of employment. We only employ when there is a need for such workers.

“This issue can be likened to a case of illegal employment and I can tell you that it is not only in the Delta Polytechnic, Ogwashi-Uku; we have similar cases at the State Colleges of Education in Agbor and Warri.

“The affected staff were employed out of the institutions’ statutory provisions. The system that we operate does not recognise them as our staff, as such we cannot pay them,” Sinebe said.

The commissioner further explained that many of the schools went out of their way to employ the affected staff without recourse to approval from the state government.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that many of those employed between 2013 and 2015, were lecturers, technicians, information officers, clerical officers and messengers. (NAN)

•Photo shows Delta Commissioner for Higher Education, Jude Sinebe.