Ibrahim Idris, governor of Kogi State, is determined to win the war against the mafia behind the ghost workers syndrome in the stateIbrahim Idris, governor of Kogi State, is worried by the astronomical increase in the number of civil servants on the state’s payroll. When he assumed office in 2003, the total number of civil servants in the state was about 22,000, but today it has risen to 28,000. This number is said to be the highest among the 19 northern states. The governor is, therefore, suspicious that the ghost workers syndrome has crept into the state civil service.In a bid to address the problem, he recently engaged the services of a consultant to screen the civil servants in the state. So far, about 48 civil servants who were found to be involved in falsifying the vouchers have been charged to court for fraud.Phrank Shuaibu, special adviser to the governor on strategy and communication, told Newswatch that the decision of the state government to embark on the staff screening exercise was borne out of the realisation that a lot of fraud has been going on in the civil service. In 2004 and 2006, the state government attempted to screen the staff in the civil service. Members of the labour unions in the state were involved in the exercise but the effort did not yield any positive result. That is why, this time around, the government decided to hire a consultant. But the executive members of labour union in the state are said to have been sidelined and allegedly resolved to do everything possible to frustrate the effort.However, a section of the labour force has now discovered that they had been misled into believing that the exercise was not in their interest. Shuaibu said those behind the disinformation were the cabals behind the ghost worker syndrome which has been going on in the state for a long time and warned that no amount of blackmail would deter Idris from going ahead with the exercise. He appealed to members of the labour unions in the state to co-operate with the government instead of allowing themselves to be used by some people who do not mean well for the state. “It is unfortunate that the labour union is allowing itself to be used by agents of evil in the state,” he said.He explained that it doesn’t happen anywhere in the world that the person that does not have the power to employ could be engaged to terminate the employment of some staff as alleged by some persons who are bent in throwing the state into chaos.According to him, the terms of reference of the consultant include to conduct a screening of the staff of the state civil service in order to determine the exact number of those in the workforce. The government spokesperson said the government is uncomfortable with the overbloated number of staff in the workforce because it has not done any major recruitment of staff since it came to power in 2003. He advised all the workers to be patient and wait to see the end of the exercise, assuring that it was in their own interest.The ongoing exercise has already revealed monumental frauds in the state. Shuaibu sited the case of a grade level 08 officer who is supposed to be earning a salary of about N16,000 monthly but who is being paid about N188,000. While what goes into the bank account of the concerned staff is the normal amount that is due to the person at the end of each month, the balance of N166,000 goes to the cartel behind the scandal. He said that under the present circumstance, no leader who is accountable and responsible would sit and watch the fraud continue unchecked. “The governor has said that those involved in this criminal act would not go unpunished irrespective of their positions,” he said.But the executive members of the labour union in the state are saying that it is wrong for anybody to say that they are frustrating the present effort of the state to arrive at the correct number of the state civil service and eliminate ghost workers.James Odaudu, chairman, Joint Public Service Negotiating Council, JPSNC, an affiliate of Nigeria Labour Congress,NLC, told Newswatch that members of the labour union in the state have been supportive of the staff screening. Odaudu added that the previous exercise that was conducted in partnership with some members of labour union in the state could not achieve the desired result because the members of the union were not given free hand to operate. He said that when the state government decided to embark on the current screening, the union approached the government and asked for N2million to conduct staff verification in the state instead of engaging the services of Sally Tibbot Consulting Nigeria Limited to conduct the screening, but the proposal was ignored.A staff in the Mministry of Finance who spoke to Newswatch on condition of anonymity said ghost workers had been existing in the state for a long time and their elimination would be a big credit to the present government in state. He solicited the understanding of the labour union as the ongoing exercise is meant to reposition the state and provide the people with more dividends of democracy. But he appealed to the consultant to abide strictly by the terms of the contract so that the prevailing peace in the state would not be jeorpadised.Another staff in the Ministry of Information said some government officials were responsible for the problem of ghost workers in the state and urged the government to muster courage and complete the investigation.Many civil servants are in support of the exercise because many of their colleagues are living above their means. There is the case of a multimillion naira investment owned by a grade level 04 civil servant in the state. Many residents of the state are surprised at the rate civil servants are investing in estate properties. A woman who operates a restaurant business along Ajaokuta road told Newswatch that most of the best houses in Lokoja town are owned by civil servants. The problem of ghost workers is one of the greatest challenges facing the state government in its quest to deliver to the people the desired dividends of democracy.David Bada, a former staff of Lokoja local government area, also called on the state government to compel the chairmen of local councils in the state to carry out similar staff verification in their respective local government areas where they said some cabals have also been benefiting from ghost workers syndrome.
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