Benue state government, senior state workers implicated in double dipping and numerous salaries would be referred to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for further investigation and prosecution.
Kula Tersoo, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Hyacinth Alia, stated this on Friday when he welcomed members of the state’s Correspondents’ Chapel, led by its chairman, Emmanuel Antswen, at his office.
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The state government revealed that a staff audit it conducted identified approximately 2,500 ghost workers, stating that there were ghost schools, double-dipping occurrences, illegal hiring, salary padding, payment to dead and retired individuals, and other breaches in the state.
Tersoo, who stated that accountability and transparency were still hallmarks of the current administration, and noted that the people shouldn’t be taken aback when they start inviting senior civil servants for questioning.
During the first part of the staff audit, he added, it was discovered that many top civil workers were receiving wages from three distinct agencies: the state government, the local government, and the Universal Basic Education Board.
“We already know some of them, and they have been removed from the entire payroll,” he added.
We are waiting for them to disclose that they have not been paid, which would be their own reporting.
Those receiving double pay as senior personnel will be turned over to the EFCC for investigation and possibly prosecution.”
“So, instead of N1.6 billion going to ghost schools and ghost workers, the government has reduced it to N800 million.”
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The governor stated that teachers whose two-month wages were delayed due to the audit have begun receiving credit alerts.
The Benue state governor, who previously decried the government’s callous looting, stated that the committee will continue its work until all individuals milking the state were found and forced to return what they stole from the government.
