The Chartered Institute of Forensics and Certified Fraud Investigators of Nigeria (CIFCFIN), has lamented the shame and disgrace on Nigeria caused by political party candidates who present forged certificates for elections.
The institute stated this while declaring it has partnered with Interparty Advisory Council (IPAC) to ensure that candidates standing for elections across party lines have genuine credentials.
It also pledged to deploy cutting edge forensic tools to vet and authenticate certificates of aspirants before primary elections.
Certificate forgery scandals by party candidates have been on the increase in Nigeria since 1999, leading to the ouster of a speaker of the House of Representatives and a governor-elect.
However, the CIFCFIN president, Dr. Iliyasu Gashinbaki, during the Institute's 7th direct membership graduation ceremony and award of Fellowship recently at EFCC Academy, Abuja, said such a situation will be a thing of the past.
He said, "The Institute has decided to tackle the issue of fake credentials which has brought a lot of shame and disgrace to our country once and for all. We live in a country where tax clearance certificates, academic institutions credentials and even our passports can easily be forged.
"So the Institute took it upon itself that this would be our contribution as this administration marks one year in office, that we will put an end to this and we have taken far reaching steps to ensure it happens across board," he declared.
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Gashinbaki also disclosed that the Institute during a courtesy visit to the Minister of Internal Affairs recently, highlighted forensic and fraud investigative techniques vital in maintaining and managing Nigeria's identity management system to block and prevent fraudulent activities such as identity theft and data breaches to ensure that the identity management system is secure and reliable.
"The Institute discussed various ways of partnering with the Ministry and agencies under it such as National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to provide forensic technical support in this area."
The president said the partnership will enhance the credibility of identity management and rebuild Nigeria's international image, "which is essential for various socio-economic activities, including banking, voting, and accessing government services."
According to a report on identity fraud cases in West Africa by Ask Nigeria, the country ranks 9th in Africa for multiple attempted frauds on national ID cards with an 18% fraud rate. Another publication by The Guardian, reported that Nigeria experienced 82,000 data breaches in the first quarter of 2023.
"These statistics and many more underscore the urgent need for a robust, reliable, and secure identity management system," he said.
