769 Osun workers involved in certificate forgery scandal

769 Osun workers involved in certificate forgery scandal

The Osun State government, on Friday disclosed that a total of 769 of its workforce were discovered to have forged certificates presented at the point of employment.

The Supervisor for the Ministry of Information and Strategy, Mr Adelani Baderinwa disclosed this in a statement made available to newsmen in Osogbo, the Osun State capital.

It said a consultancy firm, Captain Consultants, which was engaged five years ago by the state Government to verify results and other necessary documents submitted by the workers recently completed its assignment and submitted report.

According to the statement, the screening of the workers credentials came on the heels of controversies and reported forgery of results with which some of the workers allegedly secured job in the Osun civil service.

It explained that at the commencement of the screening exercise in 2015, all the civil servants in the state were asked to submit their credentials in their personal files, from which the Captain Consultants firm got access to their results and begun the verification exercise.

It added that each and every result submitted by those workers were verified in their various secondary schools, post secondary schools and tertiary institutions.

“Some of the workers who were suspected to have forged results were summoned by the firm and asked to present original results or go to their various schools for either attestation or re-confirmation.

“The firm, on its own approached the schools for ‘confirmation of results’ of the affected workers for which they were obliged.

“The verification process uncovered serious certificate infraction on the part of some of the workers across Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Government.

“In some cases, as discovered in the verification process, some of the affected workers used another person’s result, while some forged their secondary and post secondary schools results to secure job in the civil.

“In the case of some people employed as drivers in the service, it was discovered that they forged the O’Level results they submitted for their appointment”, the statement read.

It, however, said the firm in its report recommended pardon for 102 drivers and 30 other workers on compassionate ground. While a total of 586 workers are not pardoned, as the case of some 51 workers was still pending.

“While the exercise was on, some of the workers who were cleared and pardoned were receiving their salary while those that are yet to be pardoned have their salary suspended.

“A complete list of all the workers involved in the certificate infraction has been pasted at the Ministry of Information and Strategy, Civil Service Commission and Local Government Service Commission. Affected workers should check their names in the aforementioned places.”