Olusegun Ariyo
The Kano State Government has successfully identified and removed 239 ghost workers from its payroll, while 1,334 workers are yet to be identified.
Speaking on the update of a biometric data capture exercise conducted by the government to cleanse the payroll system, which led to the uncovering of several ghost workers at the state local government areas, the Secretary to the State Government, SSG, Alhaji Umar Faruk Ibrahim, stated that efforts are underway to sanitise the system.
Ibrahim, alongside Suleiman Wali, Special Adviser on Civil Service Matters, explained that the government’s decision to conduct a biometric capture and pay parade was aimed at addressing corrupt practices within the civil service.
“The exercise was part of the government’s efforts to plug loopholes that allowed for the payment of salaries to ghost workers,” he said.
Umar Idris, the chairman of the Local Government Payroll Committee, revealed that the committee was established to scrutinise and correspond salary vouchers before effecting payment.
“The committee’s efforts led to the discovery of the 239 ghost workers who were fraudulently inserted into the payroll,” he stated.
The governor of Kano State, Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf, has directed that the names of the ghost workers be deleted from the payroll. The decision aligns with the governor’s promise to close loopholes that facilitated corrupt practices in the payment of salaries.
“The removal of the ghost workers from the payroll is expected to save the state government over N27 million monthly. This amount will be put back into the coffers of the state government, allowing for more effective allocation of resources,” Idris said.
