The Chairman of the Delta State Civil Service Commission, Chief Roseline Amioku, has stated that more than 200 civil servants who falsified their ages to prolong their service have been forced into immediate retirement.

Amioku disclosed this at a media interaction at the commission’s office in Asaba, where the ongoing staff verification and screening exercise is being conducted as part of the state’s ongoing civil service reforms.

According to her, the exercise uncovered widespread irregularities, including age falsification and questionable credentials among civil servants, many of whom were already due for retirement.

“We embarked on the screening exercise because the governor believes that there are many individuals in the service who should have retired but are still working. A man who was supposed to have retired in 2022 is still in service. We asked him to proceed with retirement.

“Also, many whistleblowers alerted us, and upon checking the files, we found some officers who should have retired five years ago,” she said.

She emphasised that the exercise was not intended to witch-hunt workers but to restore credibility and efficiency in the civil service.

“This is part of the reforms aimed at ensuring productivity and effective service delivery,” she added.

Responding to criticisms that the exercise was a ploy to reduce the state’s wage bill, Amioku dismissed the claims, stating that the government was merely enforcing the law and upholding standard public service practices.

“The state government is only doing the right thing. Contrary to public speculations, no one is being forced to retire. Those affected were found to have manipulated their records to stay longer than allowed,” she stressed.

The chairman indicated that the verification exercise will be conducted in phases across various ministries, departments, and agencies in the state.

It would be recalled that some of the affected civil servants had earlier accused the state government of arbitrarily retiring them to reduce personnel costs, a claim the commission now says has no basis. (The Guardian)