Breaking: Benue government uncovers 3,460 LG ghost workers

Benue State Government has uncovered 3,460 ghost workers on the payroll of the 23 local governments in the state.

Chairman of the state Local Government Service Commission, Dr. Bem Melladu made this known today when he presented the Commission’s report to Governor Samuel Ortom at the Benue Peoples House Makurdi.

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Dr. Melladu said out of a total of 18,426 employees, only 14,966 turned up for verification.

Dr. Melladu stated that the verification equally uncovered names of deceased staff on the payroll, salary padding, redundancy as well as falsification of retirement dates among other fraudulent practices at the third tier of government in the state.

He said: “the exercise would help reduce the huge wage bill of local governments in the state and make more funds available for projects and recommended prompt action to sanitize the system. ’

Responding, Governor Ortom gave assurance that the State Executive Council would deliberate on the Local Government Service Commission’s in its next meeting.

The Governor lamented the decay in the local government system, pointing out that his administration would take proactive measures to plug the leakages and reposition the local governments.

He commended the courage and commitment of Chairman of the Commission and his team to the assignment.