Worried by series of petition from members of the public about some civil servants parading fake educational certificates and certificates of local government of origin in Delta, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa has directed the State Civil Service Commission, CSC, to revalidate the certificates of all civil servants in the state.
The Chairman of the State Civil Service Commission, Chief Nkem Okwuofu, who disclosed this to newsmen in Asaba, said all civil servants would appear at the Commission’s Headquarters with the originals of their certificates and other relevant documents for verification.
Okwuofu said the exercise was to check irregular cases of fake educational certificates and invalid certificates of local government of origin in the state civil service.
She explained that the screening would ensure integrity and reduce fraud, urging civil servants to cooperate and take the exercise seriously.
Okwuofu said the Commission had every reason to double check all certificates in line with its statutory mandate and dispelled insinuations that the exercise was a witch hunt.
The CSC Chairman further disclosed that the verification, which would end in July, ,2020, would be handled by experts, adding that the exercise was aimed at strengthening the system and sanitizing the civil service to meet the right standard needed to produce an efficient and effective workforce.
It will be recalled that the Delta State Civil Service Commission had planned to use the primary six certificate, also known as First School Leaving Certificate, to address the issue of falsification of age, which is deep in the state civil service, but chickened out due to pressure from certain quarters.
Whether the Okwuofu Commission would have the political will to drive the certificate revalidation process to a logical conclusion will be a matter for another day.
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