The Abia State Government has made a shocking discovery of 2,300 ghost workers in its payroll system, resulting in a huge savings of over N220 million on monthly wage bills.
This was revealed by the State Accountant General, Deaconess Njum Onyemenam, in a press conference in Umuahia, the state capital.
According to Onyemenam, the ghost workers were detected through an ongoing verification exercise of civil servants and other public workers in the state, which was ordered by Governor Alex Otti. She said that the verification exercise was aimed at sanitizing the payroll system and ensuring that only genuine workers are paid by the government.
She explained that the government of Abia State had adopted a unified payment system, which enabled it to detect and eliminate the ghost workers from the payroll. She added that the government had also implemented a biometric data capture system, which would further prevent any form of payroll fraud in the future.
Onyemenam also announced that following Governor Otti’s directive, the government had last week paid the arrears of April salaries, left behind by the immediate past administration and also June pensions to retirees. She assured that the government would continue to pay salaries and pensions as and when due, despite the economic challenges facing the state and the country.
She commended Governor Otti for his visionary leadership and his commitment to improving the welfare of the people of Abia State. She urged all workers to cooperate with the government in its efforts to ensure transparency and accountability in governance.
