SCREENING EXPOSES 2,000 GHOST WORKERS IN NASARAWA

Following a directive by the Nasarawa State Governor, Umaru Tanko Al-Makura that civil servants on the state's payroll be screened to ascertain the number of workers in the state civil service, many ghost workers have been discovered.

A member of the screening committee told Daily Sun that in a ministry, where he conducted the exercise, millions of naira were not claimed due to the inclusion of fictitious names in the payment vouchers.

He said as at now, no fewer than 2,000 ghost workers, whose salaries had amounted to millions of naira were discovered during the exercise, a situation which he said did not augur well for a state with poor internally generated revenue base.

Sources further confirmed that other areas where ghost workers were discovered include some government agencies, parastatals and some tertiary institutions in the state, which increased the state's wage bills unnecessarily.He expressed the hope that with the new data capture machines in place, the problem of ghost workers in the state would be a thing of the past and called on Governor Al-Makura to ensure that the perpetrators were brought to book.