Fake Kogi Teachers Earn N30million Monthly - Wada

Kogi State Government says it has through verification exercises it has conducted discovered that it has on a monthly basis paid N30million to holders of fake teachers certificates obtained from just a single institution in the State.

Kogi State Governor, Capt Idris Wada made the disclosure at the Interdenominational Church Service held at the Cathedral of Holy Trinity, Lokoja, to mark the 3rd Anniversary of the administration.

The Governor who was represented by his Deputy, Yomi Awoniyi,said following a number of verifications conducted by government,the exercise revealed that a number of people disguising as teachers are either not working in any school or they operate with fake certificates.

The Governor also cleared the air on the payment of school certificate examination fees for students in the state, said the policy has not been cancelled as is been alleged, rather he disclosed that henceforth government will only make refunds to parents who can show genuine evidence of the payment of these fees, and lamented the exponential rise and total demand of N515million in 2015 as money needed to pay the exam fees of students in the state from the initial N300million the administration inherited in 2012, describing the increasing trend as suspicious,and a fraudulent practice by a cabal that is unacceptable to government which he said led to the new policy review.
Capt Wada explained that the present administration has been misunderstood on several issues because there is no adequate exchange of information, said while government is aware of its responsibilities and the expectations of the people, sadly, the resources available to the state he pointed out have been on a sharp decline, thus creating a huge gap between government plan and the capacity to implement them.

The governor further disclosed that the present administration at inception inherited a number of personnel related problems, among which he disclosed are unpaid teachers salaries, salary arrears in the local government services,incidence of ghost workers and unqualified persons using fake certificates.

The governor listed other challenges it is facing to include a huge personnel cost that makes it difficult for a sufficient spread of resources to other critical sectors, as well as huge liability on gratuity payments, that dates back to the creation of the State.

The challenges not withstanding, Capt Wada explained that the administration did not resigned to helplessness, disclosed that a number of achievements has been recorded in the last three years by the administration.

The governor listed the numerous achievements his administration made in the education, health, housing, transport, agriculture, youth empowerment and road sub sector as remarkable, said the feat was achieved through his administration strategy to complete all inherited projects and to also begin new ones that have direct bearing on the lives of the people.

The Governor expressed gratitude to President Goodluck Jonathan for identifying with the state during the flood, and for assisting the state with the provision of disaster reduction facilities through the ongoing construction of embankment at Kabawa area in Lokoja.

He also commended the President for the establishment of the Federal University Lokoja, on going construction of Abuja - Lokoja dual carriage way, Kabba - Egbe - Ilorin road, construction of Lokoja port, location of a staple crop processing zone and the rehabilitation of Itobe- Anyigba - Otukpa road among other support.

Capt Wada solicited the prayers of the church for the security of all Nigerians as we approach the forth coming election and for the present administration to deliver more to the people.

Earlier in his sermon, Bishop Emmanuel Egbunu, Bishop of Anglican Communion and Chairman of Kogi State CAN, said the place of prayers in the life of government especially ahead the forth coming election cannot be over emphasized, urged politicians to seek the face of God for guidance.

The Clergyman appealed to leaders not to politicize education and urged Nigerians to have faith in the unity of the country, assuring that except the lord build a house, the builder builds in vain, appealed to politicians to create the enabling environment for the word of God to grow and to always accept election result as the will of God and that of the people.

Highlights of the service was the prayers for the nation and the success of the forthcoming general election, Kogi state and the success of the present administration.