The management of the National Examinations Council (NECO) said it has dismissed 70 staff from its services for certificate forgery.

The Head, Information and Public Relations Division of the council, Azeez Sani, confirmed the development to PREMIUM TIMES Friday night.

He refused to disclose the names of the dismissed staff.

“We cannot disclose it to you,” he said.

However, in a statement also sent to PREMIUM TIMES, the council said the dismissals are sequel to a report submitted by a committee constituted to verify the certificates of staff.

“These dismissals are sequel to a report submitted by a management committee constituted to verify the certificates of staff,” the council said.

NECO said the certificate verification committee carried out its assignment diligently ”by inviting all staff with questionable credentials to appear before it, during which some staff actually attested that their certificates were fake”.

“The committee also contacted the schools and institutions the affected staff claimed to have attended and the schools and institutions denied having certificated them,” the statement said.

The council said the dismissal of the 70 staff is the first phase ”in the series of the on-going staff certificate verification exercises in the council.”

“On completion of their assignment, the committee submitted its findings to NECO Management which also forwarded the same to NECO Governing Board. At its 17th Extra-ordinary meeting, the Governing Board vetted the report and approved dismissal of the affected staff,” it said.