Benue Wage Bill and Ghost Workers
The issue of Benue wage bill has been lingering for the last eight years. This matter which became so glaring during the time of Governor Samuel Ortom has caused so much pains. At the first hearing of it, the people of Benue were shocked when Governor Ortom announced that the state had a wage bill of over N7bn. His predecessor Senator Gabriel Suswam quickly came out to deny that the last wage bill he paid was N2.7bn and there was no way the bill could rise so astronomically. Governor Ortom then set up an ad hoc committee headed by Dr Adyorough. The Adyorough committee screened Benue workers and discovered a lot of ghost workers. It was reported that while in Otukpo for the Benue South senatorial district screening exercise, a particular local government had over 200 ghost workers! These ghost workers were alleged to belong to a prominent politician. Rumors had it that Dr Adyorough became visibly angry and vowed to expose such evil. While Adyorough was rounding off the work and preparing to submit the report, he was trailed to his house and assassinated in the presence of his wife! What cruelty! That report never saw the light of the day. Adyorough’s murder, let me say, is still under investigation while the wage bill is skyrocketing.
The question is who exactly is behind this enterprise of ghost workers in Benue State? In the civil service, ghost workers enterprise cannot thrive without the consent of the civil servants. What exactly makes auditor generals and accountant generals stupendously rich civil servants? Could ghost workers enterprise be one of the businesses they run? I am only thinking aloud because this is troubling. In the Local government system for example, the Director generals of services and administrations (DGSA) as well as the accountants of the local governments if not held properly can rubbish the local government chairmen. These are civil servants, not politicians. Your Excellency, you must begin to look deep inward and around if you are interested in solving the problem of ghost workers in Benue State.
In 2015 when the new government came into power it cancelled some appointments made by the outgoing government into the civil service. For instance, the government of Gabriel Suswam employed lecturers at the college of education Katsina Ala following a rigorous process that involved even the national commission of colleges of education. Governor Ortom cancelled those appointments. Today that college of education has ghost workers close to the number of staff that were cancelled. This is a clear pointer that some close advisers of the governor who stopped him from accepting the recruited staff went behind and used the list for ghost workers. Many people around you preventing certain actions to be taken are primarily protecting their businesses and not you nor the state.
Your Excellency, the cabal behind the ghost workers enterprise is not from outside. They are the closest people to the government. Some either directly or through their proxies may even be in the committees screening ghost workers. Therefore the entire workforce should not be screened by the same committee. After the physical verification exercise, deploy technology in this matter. Bank verification number should be used to match salary accounts. This will help sanitize the system.
Benue State needs professional hands in the various agencies. Don’t just reward who worked hard for your emergence with appointments to head MDAs. You have developed a very good blue print. Look beyond the everyday people you see so that you can assemble a team that will make Benue State great again. It is a good thing to give jobs to people whom you have known and had ties with for a long time but if you can learn from the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, whose appointees were mostly those with ties to his friends and family, you will agree that the most people that corrupt your government are your kinsmen. They believe they can do and undo without any consequences. You must stand firm in your quest to rescue Benue more than standing with certain interests because in the end, it is your name that will be called not anyone else’s. As you prepare to assemble your team for a new Benue, may God guide you to get the best heads that will help you write your name in gold.
Martin Iorsamber,
Former Senatorial candidate,
Benue North East, 2023
