NLC wants government to expose officials indicted in ghost workers scam

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in Borno has insisted that the state government must expose officials who are indicted in ghost workers’ scam.

Some top government officials were allegedly indicted in ghost workers-related fraud, earning multiple salaries monthly.The state NLC Chairman, Mr Titus Abana, gave the challenge at news conference by organised labour in Maiduguri on Friday.

Abana insisted that government must prosecute all those indicted in alleged corrupt practices according to the laid down rules of the civil service.

"We were discussing with the government to reconsider its position when we had the governor saying he will only pay two months salaries to 11,397 workers who have been dully captured as authentic staff of the state.

"The labour is also really disappointed to hear the government announced about 10,000 civil servants as ghost workers even while the verification exercise was still ongoing.

"Going by the pronouncement of the Borno Government, the NLC, TUC, NUT and almost all chairmen of the state union are all ghost workers because all of us are yet to be verified.

"Also, the N2.7 billion figures of overall expenditure of salaries weight of the state civil servants as pronounced by the state government was also not true.

"As at July, the nominal workforce of the Borno civil servants is 22,596 out of the number, we have about 34 commissioners and 28 legislative members on the government’s payroll.

"The amounts also cover allowances of about two, 602 students of School of Health Technology, 39 education students and four members of the Teaching Service Board.

"Others included allowances for 1,060 widows, orphans and vulnerable under the Ministry of Religious Affairs and all of these people were captured by the biometric exercise.

"For example, we have about 12,484 pensioners who were not captured and are on government's payroll and you cannot declare them as ghost workers,’’ Abana said.

"The organised labour, therefore, condemned the action and in-action of the Head of Service in the state toward nonchalant attitude in handling the affairs of the civil service,’’ he added.

According to him, the biometric exercise has not yielded any positive result in the last four months, rather it added to the suffering of the workers and their families.