Alleged fraud: Umahi sacks Secondary Education Board chairman, others

By SAMSON NWAFOR, Abakaliki

Ebonyi State Governor David Umahi has sacked the Chairman, Secondary Education Board (SEB) Dr Uche Eze Anyim and other members of the board over allegation of fraud.

The statement announcing the sack was signed by the Secretary to the State Government and Coordinating Commissioner, Dr Kenneth Ugbala,on Tuesday.

Umahi said the sack followed fraudulent practices discovered in the administration and management of the Board.

He alleged that dead persons, persons who had resigned and those that had secured employments in other places, were still in the payroll of the Board and to the full knowledge of some members of the Board.

The Governor, in the statement, directed the sacked Chairman and the members of the Board to handover all government property in their possessions to the Secretary to the State Government and Coordinating Commissioner before the close of work on Tuesday 23rd March, 2021.

He further directed the immediate redeployment of all Heads of Departments of the Board to other MDAs.

A committee has also been set up to conduct a comprehensive and thorough staff audit in the Board and submit report for further necessary action, according the statement.

The statement reads, “His Excellency, the Governor of Ebonyi State, Engr. Dr. David Nweze Umahi, FNSE, FNATE, has approved the dissolution of the Secondary Education Board (SEB), Ebonyi State with immediate effect.

“The dissolution is as a result of the fraudulent practices discovered in the administration and management of the Board, where dead persons, persons who have resigned and those that have secured employments in other places, are still in the payroll of the Board and to the full knowledge of some members of the Board.

“Consequently, the Chairman and members of the dissolved Board are directed to handover all government property in their possessions to the Secretary to the State Government and Coordinating Commissioner before the close of work on Tuesday 23rd March, 2021.

“In a similar vein, and in the effort to restore sanity in the Board, Government hereby directs the immediate redeployment of all Heads of Departments of the Board to other MDAs. A committee has been set up to conduct a comprehensive and thorough staff audit in the Board and submit report for further necessary action.” (Daily Independent)