Niger NLC uncovers 2,000 ghost workers

THE Niger state chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has said it has uncovered 2000 ghost workers in the state’s civil service and saved over N216millions in the screening exercise.

The Organized Labour Unions in the state had in 2016, signified an intention to carry out the screening of the workforce after series of efforts by the incumbent All Progressives Congress ((APC) – led administration in the state effortlessly tried to do so through contractors was abortive.

Presenting the report to the state Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello on Tuesday at the Council Chambers, Government House, Minna, the NLC President, Comrade Yahaya Idris Ndako said the exercise unravelled what he described as “unprecedented” anomalies and “unwholesome” activities by workers.

Comrade Ndako who stated that the total workforce of the state was 29,000 before the exercise explained that accounts belonging to the dead, retired, deserters and workers who allegedly failed to appear for the screening exercise, and which were found to have remained active on the salary platform, have been deleted.

He said the alleged perpetrators involved in salary padding, double salary alert, overpayment and undue allowances were made to make a refund to the Central Accounts of the State’s Ministry of Finance.

Receiving the report, Governor Sani Bello commended the leadership of the NLC in the state for what he described as its thorough job in spite of the daunting challenges it went through while carrying out the screening exercise.

The governor, who expressed his displeasures over the quantum of corruption in the civil service, said the revelation by the exercise was “dishearteningly overwhelming”.

Accordingly, he said, “you can’t have the same amount as Wage bill for six months consecutively, it’s not possible. Every month someone is retiring or dying, therefore each month should carry a separate Wage bill”.

He thereby vowed to carry out a complete automation of the employment and salary platforms of the state government, which he declared, was quite over bloated.