The Kano State Government has discovered irregularities in its civil service after a recent biometric verification exercise.
During the process, it was found that 240 employees were collecting double salaries, while 217 others were using the same Bank Verification Numbers.
The discovery was made public in Kano on Sunday by Dr. Sulaiman Sani, Special Adviser to Governor Abba Yusuf on Civil Service Matters, who spoke on behalf of the Secretary to the State Government, Umar Ibrahim.
According to him, the problems in the payroll system were inherited from previous administrations and have continued to create issues for the government.
Further checks showed that 1,335 employees had failed to present themselves for verification for over six months, raising doubts about the legitimacy of many names on the payroll.
In addition to these findings, the Chairman of the Local Government Payroll Standing Committee, Alhaji Umar Idi, stated that 247 suspicious names were uncovered in the payrolls of local government workers and primary healthcare staff.
Only eight out of the 247 individuals responded to calls for verification.
The removal of the remaining names has now saved the state and local governments about N27.8 million every month, which will be returned to their joint account.
The government explained that the exercise is not intended to punish anyone but to make sure that genuine workers and pensioners get their full salaries without unlawful deductions.
Since Governor Yusuf assumed office, the government has made it a priority to pay salaries promptly and stop illegal deductions from workers’ wages.
Efforts are ongoing to work with relevant groups to correct the payroll system and rebuild trust in the civil service.
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