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Kogi ex-dep gov in recruitment scandal, employs sch cert holder as medical officer

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7 years ago

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Kogi As Nigeria's Health Metaphor
There was a mild drama at the venue of the Kogi State Staff Screening Appeal on Monday when one Alalonu Vivian Chinyere Salawu, admitted she was recruited into a position she did not qualify for by a former deputy governor in the state.
She confessed the former number two man in the state, approved her appointment as Medical Officer on Grade Level 13 Step 6 despite having only a Secondary School Certificate with four credits. 
The lady who hails from Imo State, was however unlucky as the eagle eyes of members of the Screening Appeal Committee fished her out.
The culprit was immediately referred to the Quality Assurance Team for further interrogation. It was before the team that the cat was let out of the bag.
Read also: KOGI APC: Those fighting Tinubu are ‘ghosts’
She said: “The former Deputy Governor (of Kogi State) directed his Personal Assistant to write the application on my behalf and I was asked to sign. He immediately recommended me for employment as Medical Officer, a directive which was immediately carried out by the Permanent Secretary.
“I was taking the salary to the wife of the former Deputy Governor through her Personal Assistant while they gave me only N15,000 every month. When they were about to leave government, He quickly directed that I should be converted to a Clerical Officer and I was posted out of his office to the Office of the Head of Service.”
Vivian claimed to be married to the younger brother of Grace Salawu, wife of the former Deputy Governor of the State, Phillip Salawu.
Speaking with journalists at the Screening Appeal Centre, Kingsley Fanwo, a member of the Committee and the Director-General (Media and Publicity) to Governor Yahaya Bello, said the screening exercise has been quite revealing.
He said, “We need to applaud the previous committee for doing a great job. The screening exercise was aimed at saving the Kogi State civil service from imminent collapse and to save the lives of the people. Imagine a secondary school certificate holder employed as Medical Officer. They almost killed this state. For her to come to appeal shows the audacity of fraud.
“These are the people castigating government without telling the world the fraud they have been perpetrating. Governor Yahaya Bello is poised to ensure his reforms in the civil service sails through.”
He revealed that cases of certificate forgery, age alteration and unexplained cash inflow into civil servants’ accounts have been discovered at the centre.
A complainant, who gave birth at the centre on Saturday January 28 2017 was given a N1 million gift by the governor to take care of her child.
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