Govt stops Ekiti workers' pay over alleged certificate forgery
From Ifedayo Sayo, Ado-Ekiti.

AN industrial crisis is brewing in Ekiti State over the suspension of the July salary of about 3,000 workers over alleged forgery of certificates.

Also, the state government has ordered hundreds of workers to repay certain sums of money ranging from N20,000 to about N300,000 as over-payment in their salaries over a period of time.

The development followed the report of the investigation by a consultant appointed by the state government to verify the certificates of workers in the service of the state government.

The consultant who was also saddled with the responsibility of identifying ghost workers in the employment of the state government had in the course of its assignments asked the public servants in the state to produce their primary six and school certificate results.

It carried out a verification of the results with relevant examination bodies and discovered that about 3,000 of the workers had presented fake school leaving certificates.

Acting on the report, the state government, in a letter by the Deputy Accountant General of the state, Mrs. O. O. Owolabi, ordered the salaries of the affected workers to be stopped with immediate effect.
The letter which contained the names of the affected workers and directed to the permanent secretaries of the various ministries and departments reads: "I am directed to kindly inform you to stop the salaries of the underlisted officers with effect from July 2009 until further notice."
For instance, in the Ministry of Local Government and Culture, about five workers had their salaries stopped while in the Ministry of Health, six workers were affected.

Worst hit is the State Teaching Service Commission where hundreds of workers were affected by the order of the state government.
Already, the directive is generating some disquietedness among the workers who saw it as another attempt by the state government to retrench some of its workers.

A top senior civil servant who condemned the stoppage of salaries of the workers said the state government ought to review the report before implementing it.

I'm sure there are people who are qualified... or over qualified...


they should just replace them sharperly

Fraud fraud fraud everywhere you go...