Bayelsa discovers fake employment syndicate, probes appointment letters

BAYELSA State Government is set to probe over 700 appointment letters after it discovered a fake syndicate in the state’s civil service.

Some of those involved in the employment racketeering have been identified for disciplinary action, while those working with suspected fake employment letters will be screened.

However, fear has gripped some civil servants, particularly those employed at the twilight of Governor Seriake Dickson’s administration, as Governor Douye Diri has set up a committee to review all employments from 2018.

Chairman of Bayelsa State

Civil Service Commission, Dr. Peter Singabele, disclosed this after he received the report of the Committee on Verification of Appointment Letters inaugurated by commission.

The committee headed by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Mightyman Dikuro, was inaugurated in March 2020.

Singabele noted that most of the syndicates collaborated with some officials of the commission and the treasury.

According to him, the syndicates are suspected to have collected money from unsuspecting applicants to facilitate their employment into the civil service.

He disclosed that the syndicate succeeded in forging the signatures of the immediate past governor and that of the permanent secretary to ‘ sell’ appointment letters to applicants.

Two employees of the commission fingered in the employment scam had been handed over to a disciplinary panel for further investigation, he said, adding that investigations were ongoing to identify those working with the syndicate.

The Guardian gathered that disciplinary actions would be taken after studying the recommendations of the committee, according to civil service rules.

The commission’s boss, however, assured that Diri would not sack Bayelsans genuinely employed by the previous administration. He said, “We want to let all civil servants know that we are currently reviewing the appointment letters of most of those who were engaged newly and in particular those whose names are in the payroll in the treasury but not in the genuine employment list. That is what we are checking.

“At the end of our review exercise, all those with genuine employment letters have no course to worry, as they will certainly remain in the civil service. But if you are unable to prove to us that you have a genuine employment letter, certainly we have nothing to do about that.”