Following claims by the Kogi State Head of Service, Mrs. Deborah Ogunnola that the state government had discover over 300 ghost workers in the stae’s payroll , the Organised Labour in Kogi State has expressed dismay on the story alleging that the names were planted by civil servants.
A statement by the chairman Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Onuh Edoka and his Trade Union Congress counterpart, Comrade Ranti Ojo described the allegation as unfortunate given the fact that the state government had conducted staff verification exercise that lasted for over three years.
The statement noted that aside the normal verification exercise that lasted three years, the government also organised pay parade for all workers and had their biometric data captured. The statement therefore challenged the Head of Service to publish the names of the ghost workers, their MDAs and the senior civil servants involved in the criminal activities.
The labour leaders said the government’s statements since after the screening indicated that the payment system had been made watertight and only the governor could order the inclusion of any names in the payroll and wondered how senior civil servants could gain access to the payroll again. They said until the identities of those involved were revealed, the organised labour would view the action of the Head of Service as a deliberate attempt to rubbish what the State government has achieved from the screening exercise and thereby throw the entire workforce into another round of screening exercise again. The organised labour also accused the Head of Service of finding avenues of perpetuating herself in office having reached her retirement age in service since two years ago.
