NECO dismisses 19 staff over forged certificates

19 staff of the National Examinations Council (NECO) have been dismissed by the governing board of the institution over certificate forgery.

A staff Certificate Verification Committee constituted by NECO management found the staff guilty of gaining employment using fake certificates.

According to a statement signed by the Head, Information and Public Relations NECO, Azeez Sani, the committee had been mandated to verify the certificate presented by a variety of staff at the time of employment.

While performing its assignment, the committee had invited staff with questionable credentials to appear before it.

The statement said following investigations, the affected staff confessed to working with forged certificates.

The committee also contacted the schools and institutions where the affected staff claimed to have attended but the institutions denied having certified them.

At its 52nd Regular meeting, the Governing Board of the exam body vetted the report of the Certificate Verification Committee and approved the dismissal of the 19 staff.

Recall that the NECO Governing Board had previously at its 17th Extra-Ordinary meeting in November, 2019, dismissed 70 staff for certificate forgery.

The board said the verification exercise will continue to ensure it sanitized the system.