Labour urges FG to investigate allegation of ghost workers in Civil Service

The association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), has called on the Federal Government to investigate the allegation made by Finance Minister that 23,000 ghost workers are in the Civil Service.

This was contained in a statement signed by Mr Alade Lawal, the Secretary General of the association and made available to newsmen on Tuesday in Lagos.

The association made the call in reaction to the recent allegation made by Mrs Kemi Adeosun that 23,000 ghost workers were discovered in the pay roll of the Federal Civil Service.

Alade stressed the need for the government to investigate the allegation in order not to jeopardize the jobs of several civil servants who use micro finance banks as points for payment of their salaries.

"This is the reason why we are calling for due diligence on the matter to establish if truly thousands of ghost workers exist in the Federal Civil Service.

"The Federal Government must set up a joint government-labour investigation panel to establish the authenticity of the claim.

"We want to reiterate our stance that if in the final analysis, some workers are found culpable, the full weight of the law should be applied,” he said.

The ASCSN scribe said that a few years ago, a similar alarm was raised about ghost workers in the Federal Civil Service, but after investigation it was discovered to be a hoax.

He said that the fact that some civil servants were not captured in the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) and Bank Verification Number (BVN) could be a reason for the allegation.