Calabar, Cross River State – Dr Damilola Fagboro, Director, International Academy of Forensic (IAF) on Thursday in Calabar asserted that the use of forensic analysis could help Cross River in efficient gratuity payment.
Fagboro stated in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the sideline of the ongoing five-day training on “Forensic Analysis and Data Mining” for senior staff of Cross River’s Accountant General’s office.
It would be recalled that the payment of gratuities was a challenge in Cross River for over 10 years until the administration of Governor Bassey Otu came on board and released N10 billion for the payment of gratuities.
NAN reports that there have been challenges with the payment for several of the retirees due to poor record keeping and irregularities.
The director said the use of biometric forensics would have seamlessly solved the problem of gratuities payment in the state if it was used.
“With biometric forensics, the fingerprint, face, the day the gratuity was paid, the bank it was paid into and even if the person who should claim the gratuity is late, it would all be sorted.
“When forensics is institutionalised, no one will have the confidence to come back for another gratuity when he had collected once,” he said.
Speaking further, Fagboro said forensics was different from audit because it applied the principles of science and technology, and it is required in every aspect of life to ensure credibility, not just in criminal cases.
He, however, decried the issue of quackery, which had bedevilled the profession, adding that training, certification and continuous development were the ways to enhance professionalism in the field.
On her part, the Accountant General of Cross River, Mrs Glory Effiong said the training became necessary to bring her staff up to speed with the current realities of their positions and to enhance efficiency.
“When I came in as the Accountant General, I noticed a huge training gap because a number of staff who were trained over the years had retired and the new hands had some level of deficiency.
“It is important to state that if you don’t get your staff to know the basics in their position, the day you need them to do simple bank reconciliation, they would remain there because they don’t know how to do it,” she said.
She added that she expects a better performance from the staff after the training.