Govt officials jittery as ICPC goes after certificate scammers

[TGD]

 EFFORTS by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission (ICPC) to authenticate academic certificates and its recent arrest of 41 members of staff of NIMC have left government officials jittery over the integrity of their names and security of their jobs.

An ICPC source confided in The Guardian Wednesday that following the arrest and questioning of 41 officials of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), some officials of other government agencies were afraid that the commission's action might be across board.

While disclosing that some agencies have been identified and would be investigated, the source said many government officials were involved in certificate forgery, especially among those who claim to have obtained Master's degrees, which they used for promotion on the job.

Meanwhile, a community development consultant to Shanga Local Council Area of Kebbi State, Garba Hassan Wara, has been sentenced to six months' imprisonment for inflating his consultancy fee.

According to a statement from the ICPC Head of Public Enlightenment, Mike Sowe, Justice Zaiyanu Nagodi of Kebbi State High Court, sitting in Birnin Kebbi, gave the sentence in his judgment on a matter brought before the court by the ICPC in 2011.

It stated that Wara was convicted on four out of nine charges. He was accused of abetting a public officer to inflate the price of his consultancy fee for the establishment of Shanga Micro Finance Bank from N1.7 million to N5 million, among others.



The Guardian