Impact of Political Interference on Recruitment Process and Employee Performance: A Study of the Federal Polytechnic, Offa, Kwara State, Nigeria

This study examined the impact of political interference on the recruitment process and employee performance in Federal Polytechnic, Offa. The objective was to determine how political influence affects meritocracy, fairness, transparency, and efficiency in public institutional recruitment. Merit System Theory was adopted. The study population of this study was 635 while a sample size of 240 was derived using the Krejcie and Morgan’s (1970) formula but 227 valid responses were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25. Findings revealed that 66.1% of respondents agreed that political interference undermines fairness and credibility in recruitment, while 69.6% believed recruitment processes are manipulated to favour politically connected individuals. The study further revealed that 64.7% of respondents believed political interference reduces transparency and accountability, while 83.3% agreed that merit-based recruitment enhances productivity and efficiency. Although teamwork appeared relatively unaffected (63.5% disagreed that political recruitment disrupts cooperation), political interference was still identified as a major impediment to institutional performance and service delivery. The study recommended that the Governing Council and Human Resource Department institutionalize a transparent, merit-based recruitment framework; the Ministry of Tertiary Education and the Office of the Head of Service enforce existing recruitment regulations to minimize undue influence; and the Rectory ensure administrative autonomy in recruitment decisions.