Nigeria’s Benue State government has discovered about 2,500 ghost workers on the payroll of local government areas of the state.
This was contained in a statement by the state governor, Hyacinth Alia, signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Kula Tersoo, made available to newsmen.
Governor disclosed that an investigation into the activities of local governments in the state showed alleged padding of wage bills and manipulation of the payroll.
The governor was explaining the delay in the payment of salaries of teachers in primary and post-primary schools as well as workers of the 23 local governments in the state.
Governor Alia said that there was the need for cleaning the alleged manipulations created by the immediate past government.
“The governor says the decision for the delay in the payment of the above-mentioned workers was taken after the government discovered mindless padding of the wage bill and other fraudulent manipulations of their payroll.
“He reveals that the first phase of an extensive staff verification and payroll audit for all teachers and local government staff has just been concluded, and it has already uncovered 2,500 ghost workers that have already been removed from the payroll.
“He said the decision became necessary after the discovery, to enable the government sanitise and cleanse the payroll to ascertain the actual wage bill of the state, and to know the genuine workers that are worth their wages.
“He identifies ghost workers, ghost schools, double dipping, unlawful employment, salary padding, payment to dead or retired individuals, unlawful replacement, and inflation of wage bill, as some of the payroll infractions discovered from the audit,” the statement read in part.
He assured that workers who were successfully screened would receive their salaries, adding that the exercise was aimed at “putting measures in place to ensure the systems are protected going forward.”
Governor Alia had also reportedly suspended the 23 local government chairmen in the state to allow for a thorough probe into the alleged maladministration in the council areas by the state assembly.