LG Uncovers 147 Ghost Workers in Niger
- Saves N50m from staff verification
- Wants SUBEB probed for delay in payment of salaries
Laleye Dipo in Minna
Following the staff verification exercise recently carried out by Lapai Local Government of Niger State, the council has discovered over 134 ghost workers on its payroll and saved over N50 million which was going into pockets of some staff illegally.
The chairman of the local government, Alhaji Muazu Jantabo, who disclosed this to newsmen in Minna on Monday, said the fraud was perpetrated through the duplication of Bank Verification Numbers (BVN), sharing of bank accounts, as well as usage of fake academic certificates.
Jantabo also disclosed that some staff were found to have connived with their colleagues in the Accounts Department, who placed them on salary grade levels far above where they were supposed to be, adding that: “We discovered that some of those concerned rose to salary grade level 16 with ordinary statements of results.”
In addition, the council chairman said that apart from the use of ordinary school certificates to gain employment, 45 names of workers were on the bank schedules but the individuals could not be traced.
According to him, major culprits in the scam were primary school teachers and a few in the Primary Health Care Department.
The council boss further revealed that the verification took the committee to the Niger State College of Education and the Niger State Polytechnic, Zungeru, where it was discovered that most of the certificates tendered by the affected staff were not issued by the institutions.
“If the government really wants to get to the root of the ghost workers syndrome in this state, the government should embark on staff academic certificate verification instead of the usual screening, many workers are parading fake certificates,” Jantabo said.
He accused the state Universal Basic Education Board (NSUBEB) of not promptly paying teachers’ salaries even after such deductions have been made and remitted to the board.
He cited as an example in the August salary remitted to the board, which the management initially denied receiving, only to pay the teachers several weeks after following outcry by teachers.
Jantabo suggested that NSUBEB should be probed by the state government because it has been discovered that the organization spends salaries of teachers to service its debts instead of paying the workers at the right time.
The local government embarked on the staff auditing, following the partial autonomy granted councils in the state which has made many of them to pay salaries in percentages as a result of their inability to meet their huge salary bills.
