Delta Assembly sacks 26 over certificate forgery

Twenty-six employees of the Delta State House of Assembly Commission have been dismissed for parading fake certificates.
While two cases are on interdiction, 20 others, according to the Chairman of the commission, Barrister Josephine Ada Kachikwu, a lawyer, are pending.
They were sacked after a consulting firm of auditors, which carried out a thorough verification and re-verification exercise on their credentials, uncovered the forgery.
Kachikwu, who confirmed this on Monday, disclosed that the exercise became necessary after an in-fighting among the commission workers over seniority complex.
According to her, the fisticuff later resulted in protests that some persons in the service of the commission were parading fake certificates.
This dovetailed into inviting external auditors to probe their records.
She said: “The Commission truly engaged the services of a firm of external auditors to carry out certificate verification.
“The firm has submitted its report and every case were subjected to further re-verification to remove any possible human error.
“And, so far, 26 employees have been dismissed from the services of the commission for parading fake certificates; two are on interdiction, while pending cases are about 20.”
While she highlighted the activities of the commission, Kachikwu reiterated the resolution of the commission not to leave any stone unturned in the verification exercise, maintaining that though the decision was agonizing, the commission would not allow its policy of motivation of employees to be rubbed in the mud.
She said since the inauguration of the commission under her watch as chairman by Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan in 2011, it had been carrying out “efficient and effective service delivery in the legislature.”
Kachikwu added: “It is very important to state that the Commission has set a standard whereby every eligible staff for promotion is subjected to a refresher course and subsequent examination before being promoted; every staff is always promoted based on merit.
“As an incentive package, the Commission pays a handsome out-fit allowance to all staff annually to enable them maintain cooperate and dignifying looks of parliamentary staff.
“The Commission has provided a labour-friendly climate for the flourishing of a robust workers’ union, the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria.”
Kachikwu lauded Governor Uduaghan for approving the funds for the training and re-training of staff which has made staff to be more conscious of themselves and their duties.
She said: “The investment on training has paid off handsomely as we can now boast of a work-force that can deliver on our core mandate of providing personnel that will assist the legislators to make good laws for the good people of Delta State. We wish to register our appreciation to the Governor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan for his magnanimity in approving funds for the training.”