Olufunmbi Oyebanjo, a deputy director and head of finance at the Librarians Registration Council of Nigeria (LRCN), faces dismissal unless he can produce original copies of his certificates.

According to Oyebanjo, he studied accounting at the University of Lagos.

When a team from the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF) visited the LRCN on Monday to conduct an IPPIS Human Resources records verification exercise, the deputy director was unable to produce originals of his university certificates, including the National Youth Service Corps.

He is said to have informed the verification team that all of his certificates were held in Lagos and that if he had been given enough notice, he would have taken them to the office.

The team was said to be unimpressed by the reason and threatened him with being “removed from government payroll” unless he produced his original certificates.

However, sources at the OHCSF told THE WHISTLER that Oyebanjo had previously failed to produce his certificates during a similar exercise in 2018, leading some of his colleagues to believe he lacked them.

His allegation that he was not given enough time to carry the documents was also debunked, as the Council’s entire staff was given one week’s notice.

THE WHISTLER discovered an internal memo dated April 12 telling all employees to be prepared for the verification exercise on Tuesday. Musa Dauda, the LRCN’s Head of Administration, signed it.

The LRCN’s mission is to evaluate the degree of knowledge and ability expected of librarians, as well as to establish and maintain standards for all types of libraries by enforcing discipline within the profession.

The Council’s Registrar and Chief Executive Officer, Michael Afolabi, could not be contacted because his phone was turned off.