Federal lawmaker Nse Ekpenyong arraigned for certificate forgery

A member of the House of Representatives, Nse Ekpenyong, was on Thursday arraigned at the Federal High Court, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, for alleged forgery of a polytechnic diploma.

Mr. Ekpenyong represents the Oron Federal Constituency, Akwa Ibom State.

The Economic and Financial Crime Commission, EFCC, which arraigned the federal lawmaker on nine count charges, accused him of forging a national diploma certificate of the Abia State Polytechnic, Aba, Abia State.

“That you Nse Bassey Ekpenyong on or about 22 November 2012, at Uyo, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court did make a document to wit: Abia State Polytechnic National Diploma Certificate in Business Administration with No. 001181 dated 22nd November, 2012 with intent that it may be acted upon as genuine which you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1 (2) (C) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act Cap M 17 of the Revised Edition (Laws of the Federation of Nigeria) 2007 and punishable under section 1 (2) of the same Act,” says one of the charges preferred against the lawmaker.

Mr. Ekpenyong pleaded not guilty to the charges. And from the accused box, he watched as his lawyer, Emmanuel Isangedoho, argued for his bail which was opposed by the EFCC.

The lawmaker wore a brown colour Niger Delta wear. He cut the image of a dejected and lonely man. He occasionally brought out a white handkerchief to wipe his face.

The presiding judge, Ijeoma Ojukwu, said the case would be treated speedily.

She granted the lawmaker bail in the sum of N10 million and adjourned the case to April 12.

The EFCC was represented by Ahmedu Arogha.

The case is coming amid a controversy over the genuineness of the university certificate of a Nigerian senator, Dino Melaye.

Mr. Melaye, a former member of the House of Representatives, from Kogi State, was accused of falsely claiming to have graduated from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

On Tuesday, ABU vice chancellor told the Senate Mr. Melaye graduated from the school with a third class bachelors in geography.

A Senate committee cleared Mr. Melaye of wrongdoing, basing its decision on the VC’s testimony.

But the school’s position has been questioned, with some Nigerians demanding evidence beyond an oral testimony by the vice chancellor.

 

Source: Premium Times

Senate set to investigate Dino Melaye over alleged certificate forgery

The Nigerian Senate has kicked off an investigation into whether Senator President Bukola Saraki and Senator Dino Melaye have abused their privileges as lawmakers in the Upper House of legislature.

Saraki is being probed under suspicion that he may have used his office to avenge the seizure of his imported bullet-proof vehicle by the Customs

While Senate is investigating Saraki over claims that he allegedly used his office to seek revenge against Nigeria Customs Service boos Hameed Ali, Melaye is being investigated over claims that he may have forged his certificate with which he ran for the legislative seat.

The Senate resolved to probe Saraki and Melaye following a motion moved by Senator Ali Ndume representing Borno South requesting that allegations against the two lawmakers should be investigated to ensure that there was no abuse of legislative privileges by them.

According to Ndume, allegations that the Senate invited Hameed Ali because he reportedly seized a bullet-proof Range Rover that belonged to Saraki because it did not have the proper papers needed to be looked into before the Red Chamber can move on with questioning Ali over the controversial issue of collecting Customs duties on old vehicles.

On the other hand, Ndume said allegations that Melaye did not really graduate from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) in Zaria as claimed in his CV has to be investigated to make sure the truth is revealed.

The Senate Committee on Ethics and Privileges is looking into the two matters and will report back to the house in two weeks.

Oyo sacks 662 workers for certificate forgery, removes 2,021 from payroll

The Oyo State Government has sacked 662 workers for certificate forgery and removed 2,021 fictitious names from its payroll.

Soji Eniade, the Head of Service (HoS), told journalists in Ibadan on Wednesday that the dismissed workers were identified after a thorough verification exercise.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the 662 affected workers include 305 from the local government service, 152 from MDAs and 149 from the Teaching Service Commission.

Twenty-eight others are from parastatals, 26 from higher institutions of learning and two from the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB).

Mr. Eniade said the State Executive Council had, at its last meeting, discussed the need to restructure the civil and public service of the state in terms of quality and quantity.

“In terms of quantity, we want to have the right size or figure of civil and public servants in the state institutions, and our intention is to have institutions without ghost workers,” he said.

To achieve the objective, he said the state government re-engaged the services of a consultant who had earlier and excellently performed the same exercise in 2008.

He said the exercise was a normal organisational check aimed at improving the quality of service in the state.

“We cannot continue to allow the influx of people with fictitious certificates into the service of the state,” he said.

The HoS, however, said they exempted the Primary School Certificate in the verification exercise.

“We only reckoned with West African Senior School Certificate (WASSCE), Ordinary National Diploma (OND), Higher National Diploma (HND), Degree certificates and other higher certificates,” he said.

Mr. Eniade said that with the utilisation of the Bank Verification Number (BVN), 2,021 fictitious names were identified on the state’s payroll.

“Out of the 2,021 identified through the BVN, 1,432 are pensioners from the state, 84 pensioners from the local government, while 505 are from other sectors of the service,” he said.

The HoS said that the 2,021 fictitious names had been expunged from the payroll of the state.

Oyo Sacks 662 Workers For Certificate Forgery

The Oyo State Government has sacked 662 workers for certificate forgery and expunged 2,021 fictitious names from its payroll.

Mr Soji Eniade, the Head of Service (HoS), told newsmen in Ibadan on Wednesday that the dismissed workers were identified after a thorough verification exercise.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the 662 affected workers include 305 from the local government service, 152 from MDAs and 149 from the Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM).Twenty-eight others are from parastatals, 26 from higher institutions of learning and two from the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB).

Eniade said that the State Executive Council had, at its last meeting, discussed the need to restructure the civil and public service of the state in terms of quality and quantity.

“In terms of quantity, we want to have the right size or figure of civil and public servants in the state institutions, and our intention is to have institutions without ghost workers,” he said.

To achieve the objective, he said that the state government re-engaged the services of a consultant who had earlier and excellently performed the same exercise in 2008.

He stated that the exercise was a normal organisational check aimed at improving the quality of service in the state.

“We cannot continue to allow the influx of people with fictitious certificates into the service of the state,” he said.

The HoS, however, said they exempted the Primary School Certificate in the verification exercise.

“We only reckoned with West African Senior School Certificate (WASSCE), Ordinary National Diploma (OND), Higher National Diploma (HND), Degree certificates and other higher certificates,” he said.

Eniade said that with the utilisation of the Bank Verification Number (BVN), 2,021 fictitious names were identified on the state’s payroll.

“Out of the 2,021 identified through the BVN, 1,432 are pensioners from the state, 84 pensioners from the local government, while 505 are from other sectors of the service,” he said.

The HoS said that the 2,021 fictitious names had been expunged from the payroll of the state.

Read More:

http://guardian.ng/news/oyo-sacks-662-workers-for-certificate-forgery/

Certificate Forgery: Tribunal Rules on APC Suit August 15

The National and House of Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, has fixed August 15 to deliver judgement on the suit filed by the All Progressives Congress against the Peoples Democratic Party.

Mr. Eddy Julius, the senatorial candidate for the APC in the last National Assembly election conducted in Bayelsa West Senatorial District dragged his PDP rival, Senator Foster Ogola, to the tribunal alleging certificate forgery.

Julius, who is challenging the victory of Ogola in the election, is praying the court to disqualify Ogola for allegedly presenting a false certificate and to declare him the authentic winner of the poll.

When the tribunal resumed on Monday for adoption, counsel for Julius, Mr. Somina Johnbull adopted a written address he filed on July 14.

Johnbull appealed to the tribunal to grant prayers sought by his client to the effect that Ogola was not qualified to stand for the election.

He said,  “Our thrust is on non-qualification of the second respondent (Ogola). If our reliefs are granted, the petitioner (Julius), who came second, will now become the winner of the election by virtue of the doctrine of wasted votes.”

Read More: punchng

Certificate Forgery Scandal Rocks NBC

Eight months after evidence of a forgery scandal involving a staff of the National Broadcasting Commission, Caroline Animan, was uncovered, the management of the Commission has refused to act in line with the recommendations of the report.

Ms. Animan, a confidential secretary at NBC, said to have been an employee of the Commission for over 20 years, presented a forged National Diploma certificate in Secretarial Studies purportedly issued by Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, Ogun State (formerly Ogun State Polytechnic).

But the institution eventually confirmed the “certificate” presented by Ms. Animan (formerly Carolene U. Umelue) as fake, following an official investigation and document verification by the NBC.

Read More: PremiumTimes