The renewed call for strict enforcement of birth record verification across Nigeria’s public service took centre stage at the forty-fourth National Council and Annual Conference of Civil Service Commissions held in Umuahia, Abia State, this week.
Some delegates who attended the annual conference urged the National Council of Civil Service Commissions to adopt firm rules against the presentation of forged or multiple birth certificates by public servants.
The appeal, presented through a memorandum submitted by the Imo State Civil Service Commission, highlighted growing concerns over irregularities in dates of birth recorded by some officers during their career progression at the federal, state, and local government levels.
Presenting the proposal on Tuesday, the Permanent Secretary of the Imo State Civil Service Commission, Evans Iroanya, said the manipulation of personal records had long undermined professionalism and efficiency in the civil service.
He noted that the practice often enables individuals to overstay in service, limiting opportunities for younger professionals and slowing institutional renewal.
According to him, a clear and enforceable framework would not only discourage falsification but also ensure timely retirement, create vacancies for new entrants, and promote integrity in the management of the public workforce.
Iroanya stressed that stricter guidelines for documenting new recruits would reduce errors and improve confidence in official personnel records, noting that birth certificates issued by the National Population Commission and recognised hospitals should serve as the standard documents for recruitment.
The Permanent Secretary, who urged governments at all levels to affirm that any public servant found to have altered or used multiple dates of birth should face dismissal and prosecution in a competent court, also called for clearer identification of institutions authorised to issue acceptable birth certificates.
Responding to the proposal, the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Civil Service Commission, Phillip Ebiogeh, explained that declarations of age remain acceptable in the service because many hospitals still lack digital record-keeping systems.
He added that incidents such as fire or flooding could destroy original hospital documents, making age declarations a necessary alternative in some circumstances.
