By Ummi Ismaeel,
Minna
National Examination Council (NECO) has dismissed 70 workers over certificate forgery.
The dismissals, the highest so far in the history of NECO, is said to be sequel to a report submitted by a committee constituted by the management to verify the genuineness and otherwise of some certificates presented by some staff.
The Verification Committee set up by the management carried out its assignment diligently by inviting all staff with questionable credentials to appear before it, during which some actually attested that the certificates they presented to secure jobs were fake.
This is contained in a statement by the Head of Information and Public Relations Division, Azeez Sani, in Minna Friday, which also confirmed the management’s approval for their sack.
“The management of NECO has approved the dismissal of 70 staff from services for certificate forgery”, according to the statement.
It added that the verification committee had contacted the schools where the affected staff claimed to have graduated from before their dismissal.
The statement pointed out: “The Committee on the course of doing its job contacted the schools and institutions the affected staff claimed to have attended and the schools and institutions denied having certificated them.
“On completion of their assignment, the Committee submitted its findings to NECO management which also forwarded same to NECO Governing Board. At its 17th Extra-ordinary meeting, the Governing Board vetted the report and approved dismissal of the affected staff”.
The statement further emphasized that NECO under the Acting Registrar, Mr. Abubakar Gana, has zero tolerance for corruption and is poised to sanitize the system as espoused by President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.
The dismissal of the 70 staff from the various departments, the statement further explained, is the first phase of the on-going staff audit and certificate verification exercise embarked upon by examination body.