The Chairman of the Delta State Civil Service Commission, Lady Roseline Amioku, has revealed shocking tricks adopted by some desperate civil servants in the state to remain in service illegally.
Lady Amioku, who disclosed this during an interaction with a team of management staff of the Delta Printing and Publishing Corporation (DPPC) publishers of The Pointer Newspaper, led by the General Manager, Mrs Rosemary Nwaebuni, narrated startling cases of certificate forgery, age falsification, and other fraudulent practices uncovered during the ongoing staff verification exercise.
POINTER: The Delta State Civil Service Commission under your watch has been engaged in the verification of civil and public servants. How has the exercise been, and what have been your findings?
AMIOKU: It has been a very good experience for me. I have learnt a lot of things I didn’t previously know about the workers in the state. We are gradually discovering so much about both civil and public servants. With eagle eyes, we’ve been able to identify those falsifying their age and using fake documents. Some affidavits look genuine at first, but once you dig into their files, the discrepancies become clear.
For example, someone claimed to be born in 1974. But when we checked timelines—when he finished primary school and so on—it was impossible. He eventually confessed that he was actually born in 1960. That means he added 14 years to his age just to remain in service.
POINTER: Can you share specific examples of what you have uncovered?
AMIOKU: There was a woman who used her daughter’s certificate and even got promoted with it. At first, she denied it, but when I called for police intervention, she confessed, saying her daughter refused the job, so she took it instead. I told her to write her resignation letter immediately.
Another woman brought a forged class register. Her name was inserted into it, photocopied, and presented to us. When I confronted her, she begged to be quietly retired.
We also caught people with three fake certificates from one agency just a few days ago. Two of those people had only been employed in 2023.
POINTER: How many workers have been affected so far?
AMIOKU: Quite a lot. In fact, I have lost count of fake First School Leaving Certificates—it runs into hundreds. We apply instant judgment. As soon as we spot discrepancies, the person is removed from the payroll right there.
POINTER: What happens to those dismissed? Do they still get benefits?
AMIOKU: Someone who broke service rules cannot expect to be rewarded. Some may even refund salaries earned illegally. Imagine someone born in 1959 still working in the system today! When we find such cases, we retire them immediately without benefits.
POINTER: How much of the workforce has been screened so far?
AMIOKU: Only about 25 per cent. Yet what we have uncovered already is massive. This shows how entrenched the problem is. But we are determined to clean up the system.
Credit: The Pointer Newspaper
