Kano: 13-year-old, corps members among 3,000 ineligible workers earning salaries

The Kano government says it has uncovered 3,234 workers illegally earning salaries in the state’s public service.

In June, Abba Yusuf, governor of Kano, had ordered the state’s accountant-general to stop the salaries of 10,800 workers believed to be employed by the previous administration led by Abdullahi Ganduje.

He also set up a committee to investigate the authenticity of the workers’ engagement and procedures to remove those illegally recruited.

Disclosing the findings of the committee to journalists on Friday, Abdullahi Bichi, secretary to the state government (SSG), said a 13-year-old girl, students of primary and secondary schools, and members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) were among the illegal workers.

Bichi, who doubles as the chairman of the committee, said appropriate sanctions would be meted out to the ghost workers in line with civil service rules.

“It is sad to discover that the majority of those recruited did not go through the former screening exercise, while some got the job with fake certificates,” he said.

“Those that will be sanctioned include the mother of the 13-year-old girl who confirmed to the committee that she has been receiving salaries through her mother’s account and who is a worker in the public service.”

The SSG said the government has reinstated 9,332 workers into the civil service out of the 12,566 whose salaries were suspended at the inception of the current administration.

Last year, the Kano chapter of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) described the recruitment exercise done by the Ganduje-led administration as suspicious while accusing the government of collapsing the civil service in the state.