The National Identity Management Commission says it has uncovered alleged falsification of documents, involving 406 workers, who it alleges “have been benefiting financially from fraud.”
The agency says the affected staff are involved in the procurement of fake appointment, promotion, conversion and upgrading letters.
A statement by the General Manager of NIMC on Corporate Communications, Abdulhamid Umar, said the irregularities were uncovered during the staff audit(headcount) and verification exercise.
The verification was conducted to absorb and integrate about 1,000 staff from the defunct Department of National Civil Registration and the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation.
According to Umar, the audit, which is part of the background checks regularly conducted by the NIMC on its staff, to avoid compromising the National Identity Database, is also part of the commission’s continued efforts, to ensure that the National Identity Management System project is not endangered.
“At the initial stage, the audit turned up some fake and unverifiable appointment/promotion/conversion letters belonging to some staff of the defunct DNCR. Against this background and for the purpose of justice, equity and fair hearing, the defaulters were queried appropriately.
“A number of persons were cleared after a rigorous process that involved a sustained background check and confirmation of tendered documents as response to the queries, while some others were to be subjected to further investigation through a valid disciplinary committee set up to determine the veracity of their claims.
“Following all of these due processes and a right to fair hearing, NIMC discovered that 406 staff obtained fake conversion, upgrading, appointment and promotion letters.”
Umar said NIMC had sacked the defaulters “and will be handed over to the relevant security agencies to deal with the criminal aspects.”
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