- Safiu Kehinde
Zamfara State Government has identified ghost workers and over payment discovered by its civil servants verification committee as the cause of delay in the implementation of the N70,000 minimum wage proposed by the state
The was disclosed at a press briefing in Gusau on Wednesday by the state’s Head of Service, Ahmad Liman.
While reaffirming the state’s commitment to the implementation of the new minimum wage, Liman reiterated that the state’s governor, Dauda Lawal, is commitment to promoting the welfare of the civil servants in Zamfara.
The HoS would, however, identified the discovery of ghost workers and over payment among the irregularities discovered at the ongoing verification exercise.
He revealed how a general hospital claimed to have 22 medical doctors who were under the state government’s payroll.
The committee’s investigation, however discovered that only two doctors are real workers while the rest are fake.
Liman also disclosed how some teachers and medical doctors were discovered to be over paid.
“We discovered a single general hospital in the state with 22 medical doctors receiving salary monthly.
“The ongoing exercise discovered only two doctors are real workers in that hospital, all the remaining 20 doctors were fake workers.
“There was also an issue of a secondary school teacher receiving N140,000 as his monthly salary, but the committee discovered that he was receiving N700,000,” he explained.
Liman further disclosed another issue of a medical doctor receiving N700,000 as his monthly salary but he was discovered by the committee receiving over N1 million.
“There are a lot of issues related to the civil service sector in the state, I believe at the end of the ongoing exercise, the details of the findings of the committee will be made available to the public.
“I am therefore appealing to the civil servants in the state to remain calm, the state government under Gov. Dauda Lawal is committed to their welfare,” he explained.
Meanwhile, the HoS maintained that the state governor has already promised to pay N70,000 minimum wage to the state civil servants.
“You know the state government set up a committee for the civil servants verification and that of the implementation of the 70,000 minimum wage.
“The two committees have been working day and night to complete the exercise,” he said.
Liman emphasised that the committee’s responsibility was to provide an accurate framework of civil servants data in the state for immediate implementation of the minimum wage.
“The welfare of workers is a top priority for our administration, I am very confident that the implementation of the new minimum is the top priority agenda of Gov. Lawal.
“The two committees conducting the ongoing exercises are expected to complete their work by the end of this month of November,” he stated.
Liman said that as soon as the committees complete their work and present their report to the governor he would approve the new minimum wage.
“You know, the ongoing exercise is necessary to address various irregularities in the civil service sector inherited by the previous administration.” He said.