The Rivers State Local Government Service Commission says it has uncovered a grade level 14 officer of the commission who allegedly forged a University of Port Harcourt Degree to gain employment into the service.
The Executive Chairman of the commission, Chief Azubuike Nmerukini disclosed this in Port Harcourt while declaring open a two-day workshop on enhancing skills and competences of clerical officers and support staff in basic office management.
Nmerukini said that available information obtained from the University of Port Harcourt indicated that the said officer allegedly forged the degree to gain employment into the service, adding that the commission was in the process of arresting the suspect.
He, however, promised to reveal more details later to the public.
Meanwhile, the chairman has threatened to invoke the ‘no-work, no-pay’ rule against any staff of the local government system who continuously absents him or herself from duty.
He said that the commission would no longer condone a situation where most staff of the 23 local government councils stayed away from work only to collect salaries at the end of the month.
Nmerukini said that the commission also attaches importance to the training and retraining of staff, adding that it was against this background that a number of council staff were being sponsored for courses at the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN).
He used the occasion to call on those who attended the workshop to take it seriously as promotion will now be based on the number of courses attended by staff.
Earlier, Managing Partner, Michael and Associates, the Consultant, Mr. Michael R. Mba said that the organisation believes that the best investment any organisation can make was in the area of human resources training and development.
“A well trained employee imbued with the relevant knowledge and skills is a tremendous asset to any organization”, he added.
He also commended the Local Government Service Commission for investing in the training and retraining of its staff.