The committee on Local Government Staff Verification set up by the Ekiti State Government has revealed that the state loses the sum of N19.3 million to ghost workers in the local government on monthly basis.
The amount, according to the report submitted to Governor Kayode Fayemi in his office on Tuesday, represents salaries and emoluments drawn monthly by 362 ghost workers.
Recall that the state government had earlier in the year set up an 11-member committee and seven- member sub- committee to investigate the issue of ghost workers in a bid to block financial loopholes in the Local Government System.
Commissioner for Local Government Affairs and Co-Chairman of the Committee, Professor Adio Folayan, who spoke on behalf of the committee on Tuesday, disclosed that the 362 absentees (workers) were discovered on the payroll of the local government service after thorough screening and verification.
While thanking the committee for professionalism in the exercise, Fayemi said the bulk of the money accrued to the state coffers goes into payment of salaries and emolument, adding that the government had to look for creative ways to ensure provision of basic amenities.
He said, “This is a matter we need to look into, you can’t sit in Lagos and be earning salaries in Ekiti for work you have not done. But it is our duty to stop that from happening, it is not the duty of the person that is cheating the system.
“The resources available to us is limited, we all know this, some pretend not to know but anyone that has a limited knowledge of government finances will know that already we spent a bulk of what comes to this state on emolument and we have many people who are not public servants or political appointees, yet they too expect that government will touch their lives. The only way we can touch their lives is to fix the road in their community, improve on their schools and their health facilities and that would provide empowerment for them in their community, if we can’t find money to do that.
“I want to commend you and the chairman of Local Government Service Commission and the entire members, I am glad that NULGE was part of this, I am particularly happy that you included NULGE in the process. It is in the overall interest of the workers.”