In what appears to be one of the far-reaching crackdown on civil service fraud in recent years, Delta State government has forcibly retired more than 200 civil servants over allegations of age falsification.
The ongoing purge, officials said, is part of a broader reform aimed at sanitising the state’s workforce and improving productivity.
The startling revelations came to the light during a verification exercise led by the Civil Service Commission, which uncovered that several individuals who should have retired up to five years ago were still drawing salaries, some allegedly even falsifying their documents to stay in service beyond their legitimate tenure.
Chairman of the Civil Service Commission, Chief Roseline Amioku disclosed this while addressing journalists at the commission’s office in Asaba.
She noted that the exercise, though rigorous, was necessary to restore integrity in the public service.
According to her, “We discovered that hundreds of civil servants manipulated their records, particularly their age in order to stay on the payroll. Some reduced their age so drastically that their biological children are now seniors to them in service. This is not just unethical; it is criminal.”
The commission, according to Amioku, acted upon multiple whistleblower reports and undertook a thorough audit of personnel files
“A lot of people blew the whistle. We took it seriously and began to cross-check documents. We have barely covered half of the state workforce and already, over 200 people have been forced to retire,” she said, indicating that the screening would continue until 2026.
She also dismissed claims that government was using the exercise as a covert method to downsize the workforce and cut cost.
“This is not about cutting the wage bill. It is about restoring credibility to the civil service system and ensuring that those who occupy positions are there lawfully and on merit,” the commission’s boss said.
However, some affected individuals have alleged that the mass retirement was politically motivated and designed to ease out older staff in favour of cronies and younger recruits.
One of the retirees who does not want to be named lamented that “they called us fraudsters without even giving us fair hearing. Many of us have been in service for decades and now we are being humiliated.”
The situation is drawing mixed reactions from members of the public.
While some have lauded the move as long overdue, others worry that it could destabilise families and communities that depend on civil service jobs for survival, especially at a time of rising inflation and economic uncertainty.
Anti-corruption advocates, however, see the action as a critical test for transparency in Nigeria’s bureaucracy.
“This shows that internal systems can work when there is the will,” Ifeoma Nwachukwu, an Abuja-based governance analyst, said.
“But it must be sustained, fair and transparent, so it does not become a tool for victimisation.”
As the screening continues, all eyes will be on Delta State to see if it can strike a balance between accountability and compassion, and whether other states will follow suit in what could become a nationwide reckoning for the civil service system.