8,863 ghost workers uncovered in Kwara

KWARA State Personnel Database Development committee said it has uncovered a total of 8,863 suspected ghost personnel on the payroll of both the state and local governments.

Speaking while submitting the committee’s report to Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed in Ilorin on Tuesday, the alternate Chairman of the Kwara State Personnel Database Development Committee, Alhaji Isiaka Gold, said the 8, 863 personnel could not be verified in the just concluded staff biometric verification exercise, noting that the development could potentially save both the State and local governments N437, 500, 513.56 monthly.

Alhaji Gold, who said that as at the time of commencing the verification exercise, the total number of staff on the payroll of both the state and local governments was 81, 446, added that only 72, 583 of the workers and pensioners scaled through the verification process.

Giving a further breakdown of the report, the alternate chairman revealed that of the 35, 656 workers on the state government payroll, only 31, 652 were cleared and verified, leaving a total of 4,004 unverified personnel.

He said out of the 45, 790 workers and pensioners on the payroll of the 16 LGs in the state, only 40, 931 were verified, leaving a total of 4, 859 unverified.

The committee recommended that the verification exercise should be continuous and that the state government should implement a harmonised staff identification system, certificate verification and clock-in system, which he said would be deployed by the consultant at no cost to the government.

In his response, Governor Ahmed endorsed all the findings of the committee and also directed the State Ministry of Finance to adopt the committee’s report to prepare payroll of both the local and state government workers henceforth.

The governor however said that the ministry should warehouse the projected savings until it was ascertained that all workers and pensioners were verified.

Governor Ahmed thanked the consultant and members of the committee for the quality work done and expressed confidence that with the submission of the report, there would’ve an effective payroll administration at both the local and state levels.