The anti-corruption bird of the Muhammadu Buhari government has berthed at the National Examination Council office in Abuja.
The President has approved the sacking of Prof Charles Uwakwe as the registrar and chief executive officer of the National Examinations Council (NECO).
Also dismissed are Bamidele Olure, director of finance and accounts; Shina Adetona, head of NECO’s procurement division; Tayo Odukoya, deputy director; and Babatunde Aina, head of legal and board matters.
While Olure was sacked after being “found guilty of financial impropriety and not qualified to Head the Finance and Accounts Department”, Adetona was dismissed and will face prosecution “for acts tantamount to fraudulent practices, sabotage, and suppression of official records.
Uwakwe had been suspended since 2018, based on a probe of allegations of unsatisfactory conduct against him with one involving the mismanagement of N25 billion, was dismissed alongside four members of the management for various offences bordering on financial impropriety.
According to the sack letter signed by the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education, Sunny Echono, Uwakwe was accused of violating the Public Procurement Act (2007) and pursuant to PSR 030402 and Part 1 schedule 4 (i) of NECO Establishment Act.
“After due consideration of the investigative panel on the allegation of unsatisfactory conduct levelled against you and some management staff of the council, Mr. President in exercise of his powers, has approved your removal as the Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of National Examinations Council with effect from the date of your suspension from duty,” the letter read.
The council was also directed to start recovering the “ill-gotten” benefits Odukoya got as the director of M/S I-web Solutions.
It will be recalled that a past Registrar of the Int Admission and Matriculation Examination, Prof. Dibu Ojerinde, is also under probe, with some of his property recently seized.
In JAMB’S case, the billions of money the current leadership has been remitting to the Federal Government has raised questions over what obtained before.
