Two suspected impersonators have been arrested by the Ekiti State government in the ongoing Biometric Validation of civil servants and pensioners being coordinated by the Commissioner for Finance, Dapo Kolawole.
The suspects, Samuel Omotade and Akinbode Fatade, were nabbed by policemen at the Ekiti State Data Centre during the exercise.
Omotade, 27, confessed that he had been impersonating his late father at Aramoko Local Government Council (Ekiti West) since 2012 while 28-year-old Akinbode Fatade said he had been doing same with his father’s name at St. Paul’s Anglican Primary School, Okemesi since 2018.
Omotade stated that he lived in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, but had been receiving his father’s salary for several months via electronic transfer as the deceased worked as a security guard at Aramoko Local Government Council office.
He also claimed that a senior staff of the Council, identified as Mrs Oguntuase, had been aiding him.
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“I live in Ibadan but come to Ado-Ekiti monthly to impersonate my late father and claim his salary. I have been doing this since October 2018 and while we were invited here for Biometric Verification, it didn’t occur to me that I will be caught,” he said.
In his confession, Fatade claimed that his illegal act was aided by the Headmaster of St. Paul’s Anglican Primary School, Mr. Igbalajobi.
“The Headmaster of St. Paul’s African Primary School, Okemesi, Mr. Igbalajobi, assisted me to work in place of my father who had been absent from work for months,” he stated.
Speaking at the scene of the incident, Dapo Kolawole said the state government took a step further in ensuring record-keeping, accountability and transparency in the civil service by introducing the exercise, which had helped to curb the excesses of workers in the state.
“The government will further investigate this matter beyond this discovery and will ensure that perpetrators are brought to book through due investigations,” he added.