The Niger State Government has disclosed that 80 per cent of the state’s Ministry of Education staff have been working with fake certificates gotten from the College of Education (COE), Minna.

The forged certificates were discovered during the ongoing screening of all staff in the state. According to reports, the persons involved in the dishonest and fraudulent certificate dealings have been arrested by the state Police Command.

The Chairman of the Screening Committee who is also the State Commissioner for Works, Engineer Ibrahim Mohammed Panti stated that the five members of staff of the College of Education linked to the forged certificates scandal have provided more information to the police during the course of the investigation.

Engineer Panti said, “The suspected printer had admitted during interrogation that he had printed and sold out an unspecified number of such fake Certificates to many students which they have used and still using to secure employment within and outside the state.”

He revealed that most of the fake certificate holders could neither communicate in English nor write their names correctly, adding that all the culprits have been relieved of their duties. The Chairman who pledged the committee’s commitment to the task given to them by the state, further remarked that proper replacements are going to be done to fill up all the vacancies.