Delta Assembly sacks 26 employees for certificate forgery

The Chairman of the Delta State House of Assembly Commission said that the decision to sack the employees was a difficult one.
The Chairman, Delta State House of Assembly Commission, DSHAC, Josephine Kachikwu, said 26 employees of the commission have been dismissed from service due to certificate forgery.
Ms. Kachikwu said this in a statement she signed and made available on Monday in Asaba.
She said that those affected are two management staff, 10 middle management cadre staff, five technical officers, six senior admin officers, and three junior staff. She also said cases of 22 others were
pending.
She said that the dismissal was effected after a thorough verification and re-verification exercise that had been carried out by a team of experts.
“This was consequent upon the infighting by some employees over seniority which resulted in protests that some of their colleagues were presenting fake certificates so that they will be upgraded far
and above their equals.
“The commission engaged the services of a firm of external auditors to carry out certificate verification.
“The firm has submitted its report and every case was subjected to further re-verification to remove any possible human error and so far, 26 employees have been dismissed from the service of the commission for parading fake certificates.
Ms. Kachikwu said that the commission’s decision to sack the staff would “go down in history as the most agonising decision by the commission.”
She said “This is to ensure an efficient and effective service delivery in the legislature and eligible staff for promotion are subjected to a refresher course and subsequent examination before being promoted.
“As an incentive, the commission pays a handsome outfit allowance to all staff annually to enable them maintain corporate and dignifying looks befitting of parliamentary staff,” Ms. Kachikwu said in the
statement.
(NAN)