July 20, 2023

Gov Hyacinth Alia of Benue State says 2500 ghost workers have been uncovered in the first phase of staff verification and payroll audit for teachers and Local Government staff members in the state.

This is contained in a statement signed by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary (CPS) Tersoo Kula on Thursday in Makurdi.

”In the first phase of staff verification and payroll audit for Primary and Secondary School Teachers as well as Local Governments workers, 2,500 ghost workers were uncovered .

“The payroll has since been cleaned and names of the ghost workers have been remove.

“The government also uncovered phantom schools, double dipping, unlawful employment, salary padding, payment to dead or retired individuals and unlawful replacements,” the governor said.

He expressed regrets over the delay in payment of salaries of teachers in primary and secondary schools, as well as the Local Government staff.

The governor said the decision for the delay in the payment of salaries was taken after the government discovered mindless padding of the wage bill and other fraudulent manipulations on their payroll.

He assured workers who have been screened that they will receive their salaries before the end of the week.

“We are not only getting rid of ghosts workers and removing the padding associated with payroll fraud. We are putting in measures to ensure the system is protected going forward,” he said.