In Kano, ‘ghost workers’ earned N651.6m in 3 yrs

Garba Mohammed, the state commissioner for information, disclosed this in an interview with NAN on Saturday.

He said a committee recently set up to verify the actual number of the workers discovered the development, adding that about N18.1 million was being lost to the fake workers on a monthly basis.

“According to the committee’s report, out of the 2,490 casual workers of the board, 1,830 are ghost workers,” Mohammed said.

“So, based on the report, the state government was losing N18.1 million monthly and this is one of the allegations that led to the setting up of the committee to investigate the issue.

“You will be surprised to know that for the past three years, the people had been siphoning the money every month.”

He disclosed that names of about six directors, alleged to have been involved in the scandal, had been forwarded to the office of the head of civil service, for appropriate disciplinary action.

“The office of the head of service will investigate their individual involvement with a view to coming up with appropriate punishment,” he said.

Similarly, he said, the executive council had approved the release of over N16 million for the construction of drains at Koki and Abattoir quarters in the metropolis.

Mohammed added that the council also approved N166 million for the purchase of 10 tippers for evacuation of refuse.