The Management of Kogi State Polytechnic has suspended Dominic Egwuda, a Deputy Registrar at the Institution and 4 others following their alleged involvement with a syndicate that specialises in forging statement of results and educational certificates of the polytechnic.
Salisu Ogbo Usman, rector of the polytechnic, Professor disclosed this on Thursday while parading four other members of the syndicate that were arrested over the certificate forgery scheme in Lokoja.
Usman said the Deputy Registrar, along with four other staff in the Exams and Records Unit of the polytechnic, were identified to be members of the syndicate and have been suspended indefinitely, as he lamented that while the four staff members in the Exam and Records unit have appeared for questioning before their suspension, Dominic Egwuda has been on the run, refusing to show up for questioning, instead sending political friends to beg him for leniency.
He said: “As you may recall, before we came on board, the academic integrity of the institution was always in the news for the wrong reasons. This was because of the activities of some individuals who forged security documents, particularly the statement of results.
“Then, it was alarmingly easy for individuals to forge and print Statements of Result of the Polytechnic at business centres. Some even had the audacity to present such forged results back to the Polytechnic, and to the same department they allegedly ‘graduated’ from.
“Upon assumption of duties, the trend and threat prompted us to change the Statement of Result template to a more secure version. Since then, we have successfully minimised the forgery of our Statements of Result to the barest minimum.
“Investigation revealed shocking levels of audacity and deceit. Some of the suspects forged National Diploma (ND) results in the name of Kogi State Polytechnic and had the temerity to apply for Higher National Diploma (HND) admission in the same institution using the forged ND results. Even more alarming, others forged both ND and HND results and had the gut to apply for the collection of original certificates for the same fabricated results.
“These individuals compromised our security arrangements and tampered with the security features on our Statements of Result.
“They colluded with result processors to prepare results for individuals who had multiple carryovers but refused to sit for their examinations, thereby falsely portraying them as graduates. Such criminal acts represent an assault on the credibility and reputation of our institution, and they cannot be allowed to go unpunished.
“The recent cases uncovered in this regard are: Amina Mustapha who was never our student, but forged our Forgery of ND and HND results and attempted to use same to obtain original certificate in connivance with some members of staff in Exams Unit.
“Mfon Asuquo who was our student that absconded with multiple carryovers only to fraudulently obtain our statement of result and attempted using same to obtain original certificate in connivance with same members of staff in Exams Unit.
“Dansuma Mercy Sunday who connived with one Abubakar Musa (our student with matriculation number 2024/HND/URP/052, Adejoh Faith (our student with matriculation number 2024/HND/OTM/179, Ademu Rilwan (our student with matriculation number 2024/HND/BUS/158 and Henry Tope; a former student identified as the mastermind of the syndicate forging statement of result.
“We are pleased to inform the public that four suspects involved in the forgery of statement of result were apprehended during registration. They have been handed over to our security unit, whose investigation led to the unmasking of the broader syndicate behind this academic fraud.
“All Individual involved in this forgery scandal will be immediately handed over to the police for further investigation and diligent prosecution to serve as a deterrent to others.
“We shall not relent in our effort to expose and eliminate all forms of misconduct that is capable of denting hard earned reputation of Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja.
“In another discovery, a staff member in the Exam and Records Unit already under disciplinary review had in his possession 30 forged statement of Results bearing different names and programmes. Security operatives also recovered several fake official stamp and stamp pads and admission letters bearing different names and programmes from his residence.
“Let me state unequivocally that Kogi State Polytechnic maintains zero tolerance for academic fraud, result falsification and all forms of unethical conduct. Any student, staff member or external collaborator found culpable will face the full wrath of the law, in addition to institutional disciplinary measures.
“While some may feel we are going public, our position remains that we must act within the limit of authority and transparency as we don’t want a repeat of the Ayeni case of 2020 which has lingered without resolution.
“We wish to assure the general public, stakeholders and the polytechnic community that our quality assurance measures a and security mechanisms remain fully active and in compromised.”
