Allegations of certificate forgery and exam malpractices are rocking the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), The Nation has learnt.

In one of the incidents, a young lady was allegedly caught cheating at a promotional examination conducted by the Financial Institution Training Centre (FITC), in Lagos.

An official said SEC “will not condone such act and is assessing all the options open to it to deal with the matter,” adding that one of such options would be to prosecute the said lady for exam malpractices.

The official admitted that some staff of the Commission found their way into the staff list of SEC through political godfatherism, stressing that the capital market regulatory body may beam it’s arch light on some of these individuals, since it has been discovered that some staff could not pass simple promotional examinations conducted for the organisation by reputable institutions.

He said some of these persons have been enjoying promotion every two years.

The official who requested that his identity be veiled, said the impending scrutiny of staff credentials has thrown many workers of the SEC into panic, stating that there is speculation of a likely mass purge of unproductive staff anytime soon.

However, a staff of the Commission familiar with the development, denied the existence of any plan for a mass purge of workers by the Director-General, Ms. Arunma Oteh, but admitted that the lady that was caught cheating during the promotion examination, is trying to whip up sentiments against the management and board of the SEC.

The SEC official also revealed that some senior staff of the SEC were discovered to have forged their certificates to secure employment, while one of them has hurriedly turned in his resignation when he realised the game was up.

These developments have pitched the SEC boss Ms. Oteh against staff of the Commission some of whom are now clamouring that her tenure should not be renewed once it runs out later this year.

Two years ago, Oteh was locked in a battle with some members of the House of Representatives which resulted in the commission not receiving budgetary allocations for two-straight years.

Those opposed to her leadership say “SEC’s staff have experienced low moral under the current administration and accused the management of financial recklessness and abuse of extant financial rules and regulation.”

Her supporters on the other hand say “the present management of SEC has revamped the organisation in tandem with its core mandate, adding that its workforce must possess the quality needed to deliver on its mission and vision of a world-class capital market regulator.


http://thenationonlineng.net/new/exam-malpractice-certificate-forgery-rock-sec/

You see the level nigerians have gotten to .