Benue uncovers phantom schools, 2,500 ghost workers on LGs’ payroll

Benue State Governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia

Benue State Governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, says the state government has uncovered 2,500 ghost workers in the first phase of staff verification and payroll audit for teachers and Local Government officials in the state.

Alia made this known via a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Tersoo Kula, on Thursday, July 20, 2023.

The governor said: “In the first phase of staff verification and payroll audit for Primary and Secondary School Teachers as well as Local Governments workers, 2,500 ghost workers were uncovered.

”The payroll has since been cleaned and names of the ghost workers have been removed.

“The government also uncovered phantom schools, double dipping, unlawful employment, salary padding, payment to dead or retired individuals and unlawful replacements.”

Governor Alia, who expressed regrets over the delay in payment of salaries of teachers in primary and secondary schools, as well as the Local Government staff, said the decision for the delay was taken after the government discovered mindless padding of the wage bill and other fraudulent manipulations on their payroll.

He assured workers who have been screened that they will receive their salaries before the end of the week.

“We are not only getting rid of ghost workers and removing the padding associated with payroll fraud. We are putting in measures to ensure the system is protected going forward,” Alia added.

The Star