Scandal: Top EFCC Members Of Staff Fingered in Age Falsification
…As pressure mounts on Bawa for ‘soft landing’
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), is presently enmeshed in a ‘nauseating’ scandal involving its senior officers over age falsifications.
PRNigeria reports that six senior staff of the Commission who falsified their age records (dates of birth) were detected during a promotion interview for Commission’s senior operatives.
This was as it was reliably gathered that the Chairman of the anti-graft agency, Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa, has come under intense pressure to give the accused officers a ‘soft-landing’.
A credible source at the Commission disclosed that the affected staff were trying to confer an ‘unfair and undue advantage’ to themselves over their colleagues, who also participated in the interview exercise.
According to the source; “The offence of the six senior officers bordered on forgery and conferring unfair advantage to themselves. They did so by altering their dates of birth in their personal files”.
It was further gathered that the identified senior operatives of the Commission involved in the age racketeering scandal, were hoping that they would get their years in the service extended, beyond their retirement ages.
This was as it was gathered that some senior officers of the Commission who altered their birth records in the past were punished with demotions to lower levels or outright retirement from the service.
According to the EFCC law, any person involved in forgery shall be sanctioned and prosecuted for falsifying/altering official records for personal gain or any other offence.
However, a top management staff of the EFCC told PRNigeria on condition of anonymity that the agency’s Chairman, Mr. Bawa is more concerned about protecting the integrity of the Commission and its staff.
According to him; “Mr. Bawa will surely be in a dilemma if such allegations are established against some of our best staff. This is because some of the accused senior officers are very good at their job and they did not forge certificates of qualifications and experience.
“In addition, the so-called age falsification is yet to be established against any one of them as they are still very innocent,” he explained.