George Okoh in Makurdi
Benue State Government has uncovered 3,460 ghost workers on the payroll of 23 local government areas in the state.
Chairman of the state Local Government Service Commission, Dr. Bem Melladu, made this known yesterday when he presented the commission’s report to the state Governor, Samuel Ortom, in Makurdi.
Melladu said out of a total number of 18,426 employees, only 14,966 turned up for verification, stating that the verification equally uncovered names of deceased staff on the payroll, salary padding, redundancy as well as falsification of retirement dates among other fraudulent practices at the third tier of government in the state.
He said the exercise would help reduce the huge wage bill of local government in the state and make more funds available for projects, and recommended prompt action to sanitise the system.
While responding, the governor gave assurance that the State Executive Council would deliberate on the Local Government Service Commission in its next meeting.
He lamented the decay in the local government system, pointing out that his administration would take proactive measures to plug the leakages and reposition the local governments.
