By Babarinde Ahmed
Zamfara State Government has uncovered 2,363 ghost workers following the just concluded verification of civil and public servants in the state.
A statement by spokesperson to the
Governor, Sulaiman Bala Idris, reveals that, the verification process exposed 220 minors receiving monthly pay as civil servants.
It says the verification was necessary due to the state government’s efforts to implement the N70,000 minimum wage.
The statement points that, to improve the efficiency of the Zamfara State civil and public service, Governor Lawal formed a high-level committee saddled with the responsibility verifying the state government’s payroll.
“The verification committee was, led by the Zamfara State Head of Service, the commissioner of finance, the chairman of the Zamfara State Labour Union, the Accountant General, the Auditor General, the Statistician General as members, and the Executive Secretary of ZITDA as secretary.
According to the statement, the committee’s final report submitted to Governor Dauda Lawal highlighted that 27,109 permanent workers were cleared while workers with questionable employment included 2,363 ghost workers while 1082 civil servants who are due for retirement.
Others are 395 contract staff, 261 not on the nominal roll, 213 on study leave, 220 minors in employment, and 67 workers on secondment.
The report also highlighted that 75 worker’s first appointment date is not in compliance with the issue date & all of them were minors at the time of employment.
It maintains that, during the verification, 2,363 ghost workers were exposed and they were paid a total of N193,642,097.19 every month.
“1082 workers are due for retirement, and they collect a total sum of N80,542,298.26 monthly. At the same time, five workers found to be on secondment were paid monthly N354,927.60.
The statement also reveals that, the verification committee has recommended for suspending 207 workers who were not cleared. They are paid a total salary of N16,370,645.90 monthly.
“The committee found 12 workers on the payroll but not in the database and collected a monthly salary of N726,594.
“These verification exercises are ongoing efforts to monitor the Zamfara workforce and ensure transparency and accountability in service, especially as the minimum wage payments begin in March of this year.”
