March 10, 2022

…Reveals 722 officers in 49 MDAs altered, falsified their records

Plateau state Government will remove from its payroll 413 workers that are supposed to have retired, are retired or deceased.

The Head of Service of the state, Mr. Sunday Hyat disclosed this at the end of the state executive council meeting on Wednesday in Jos.

He said the decision was based on deliberations on the report submitted by the committee on Staff Audit and Verification of Civil Servants on Jan. 21.

He said the gesture would help in sanitising the civil service to improve productivity and provide employment opportunities for many young graduates, who will help to rejig the service .

He expressed concern that the report revealed that some people who have died still had their names on the state’s payroll for a long time, while people who were suppose to retired changed their documents to avert the action.

“People who are supposed to retire go to their files to change their date of birth or date of employment so that they can stay longer than necessary,” he said .

He said sanitising the civils service would help in reorganising it through deploying workers to Ministries Department and Agencies (MDAs) that do not have requisite staff.

Hyat explained that the committee on staff verification also recommended that the production and issuance of staff Identity Cards(ID) should be centralised.

“The committee found out that especially in Ministry of Education not fewer than 300 staff were still holding ID cards purportedly signed and issued by a former secretary to the state government who left office in 2007.

“The recommendation is that ID cards must be re issued after five years to control impostors,” he said.

Speaking also at the briefing , the commissioner for information and communication, Mr. Dan Manjang said the council approved that 316 staff be expunged from the payroll of government, because of their absence during the verification exercise conducted by the committee.

He said the council deliberated on the draft white paper report of the high powered committee on staff verification and audit inaugurated on April 20, 2021, to address some challenges obstructing service delivery , professionalism , accountability and transparency in the state.

“The committee found out that 566 officers in 34 MDAs were wrongly placed. The head of service and the civil service commission have been mandated to make sure that they are properly placed.

“The committee also found out that 722 officers in 49 MDAs altered and falsified their records.

“The committee also found out that 65 others falsified their records and overstayed in office and sanctions are being taken by the appropriate authorities,” he said.

He explained that following findings of the report, the state executive council has suspended and placed embargo on conversion especially into administrative officers and account cadres in the civil service.

He added that the council also approved the constitution of a medical board to evaluate ailing staff and make appropriate recommendations to government.

Manjang added that the council also approved the review of state government’s support to the Mighty Jet Football club.(NAN)