Biotech director denies ‘age falsification’ report, says it’s campaign of calumny

The Director of Human Resources and Management in the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), Mrs Magdalene Isegohire has denied falsifying her age for purpose of keeping her in the public service.

In a statement which she signed and made available to CAPITAL POST in Abuja, she described the media report as
“unfounded allegation of age falsification and campaign of calumny against my person.”

Mrs Isegohire pointed out that she was responding to the media report to put the record in public domain, otherwise she would have ignored it, even as her response seems to be dignifying the mischievous elements behind the report.

The statement said: “My attention has been drawn to a callous, libelous and unfounded allegation of age falsification and campaign of calumny against my person published online by Sahara Reporters on Wednesday, 23rd February, 2022.

“Ordinarily, I should not have dignified the malicious publication with a response but for record purposes and to put the fact straight, especially knowing that the aim of the vindictive and mischievous sponsors of the circulated and damaging publication was to smear my hard earned reputation and to devalue my worth and social standing in the eyes of the public.

“Worthy of note is the fact that the Publication that did not emanate from the ICPC website.

“However, in the said Publication, Sahara Reporters alleged that I falsified my age in some documents to extend my stay in the Public Service.

“The documents that were presented by the petitioners predates their employments in the Agency and so their authenticity needs to be questioned, as the dates in question were superimposed in the purported documents, which were also ‘certified’ by the petitioners themselves.

“I will state categorically that I have never presented to the Agency or any other authority for that matter, two different age declarations certificates but only one.

“The petitioners and the ICPC are yet to substantiate their claims by providing a different certificate that I may have presented in the past.

“I hereby call on the general public to disregard the publication as the figment of imagination of my detractors in their desperate attempts to tarnish my image and smear my hard earned reputation.”