By Andrew Ajijah, Jos
The Plateau state government has identified 709 workers who allegedly falsified their age and remained in service and collecting salaries.
The director of press and public affairs to the governor, Dr. Makut Simon Macham, in a press statement on Friday said a verification committee constituted by the state government last year made the revelation when it submitted its report to the governor.
“Out of the 13,978 staff verified, 709 staff either falsified or altered their age while 673 others were wrongly placed, promoted or onverted.”
The committee chaired by a former secretary to the Plateau state government, John Gobak, noted that some workers in the state were not screened due to autonomy given to the judiciary recently.
“The committee only screened staff under the direct purview of the executive with a total number of 14,418 officers said to be in service. Only 13,978 were authenticated indicating a difference of 440,” the committee said.
The John Gobak led committee recommended that salary automation unit should have a tripartite supervisory linkage among the offices of the Head of Civil Service, State Auditor-General and the Accountant General who may either jointly endorse the payment mandates or ensure on a monthly basis, that what is paid is well vetted and genuine.
The committee which was inaugurated on 20 April, 2021, established that there is a manifest disconnect that staff were still being paid salaries months after they had disengaged from the service either by death, retirement, transfer of service.
