The Plateau Government has dismissed the officer, who posed as a fake commissioner and drew salaries and entitlements for that office for “quite some time’’.
Mr Yakubu Jang, the Special Adviser to Plateau Governor on Special Duties, confirmed this to the News Agency of Nigeria in Jos on Sunday.
“We discovered the officer that claimed to be a commissioner and dismissed him from service after a thorough investigation.
“We took him through the civil service disciplinary procedure and showed him the way out,’’ said Jang, who is also the Chairman, Biometric Data Capture Committee.
He said that the ministry of justice had been directed to prosecute the dismissed officer.
The special adviser described the situation as “very scary’’, and expressed surprise that an officer could engage in that high level of criminality.
Jang said that other officers involved in that incident were still being investigated to ascertain the levels of their complicity and promised that none of them would escape justice if found culpable.
“Government is still doing its work to ensure that all concerned are brought to book to serve as a deterrent to others,’’ he said.
He said that the committee had attained a high level of success in its efforts at cleansing the system and revealed that some of the discoveries were “simply disgusting’’.
He advised civil servants in the state to place the public interest above their selfish desires, pointing out this was the only way to promote growth, stability and progress.
“But apart from seeking out and ridding the system of such bad eggs, we have also embarked on the massive training of civil servants to enhance productivity and restore the pride that should be inherent in public service.’’
Jang also spoke on efforts to engage youths into positive ventures and expressed government’s commitment to restoring hope in the psyche of every Plateau youth.
“We have tried to make every youth useful to himself and the society; to do that, we have classified them according to the levels of their knowledge and had steadily engaged them.
“We have the graduates, the skilled youths and the unskilled ones all captured in a data based. We try to engage them in assignments commensurate with their qualifications.
“When we award contracts, we encourage the handlers to engage youths according to their skill.
“We also try to advise the companies to employ some of such workers on a permanent basis if they found them worthy.
“We have also encouraged other non-governmental organisations to train youths on skills required by the society.
“There has also been some massive investment in the agricultural sector and that has attracted more youths back to the farms.’’
The special adviser described the situation among some youths as “very fearful’’ noting that some had even given up on life.
According to him, it is very fearful when you meet youths that say they had given up on life.
“Ours, as a government is to restore such hope and make them belief that they can all be assets to the society and contribute positively to its growth.’’