Bauchi uncovers 6,065 ghost workers on payroll

The Bauchi State Government said it had discovered 6,065 ghost workers on its payroll.

The discovery followed the workers’ verification the state government compelled all civil servants to do since January this year.

The state Governor, Mohammed Abubakar, disclosed this during an interactive session with members of the Correspondents’ Chapel, Nigeria Union of Journalists, Bauchi State Council, at the Government House, Bauchi,  on Sunday.

He admitted that there were lapses in the last rounds of the exercise in the state.

He said there were two set of errors in the last phase of the verification. The errors, he said, were human mistake which he apologised for, while he described the other as “deliberate sabotage.”

Abubakar said the state government was already using administrative rule to investigate workers involved in the sabotage, saying those found guilty would be dealt according to the law.

“During the exercise, we discovered 6,065 ghost workers on the payroll of the Bauchi State Government. This number could not be rated as small because even if you get 10 ghost workers, the exercise will be  worth it as they will be taking much money illegally.

“There were lapses during the exercise and they were continuous. Don’t forget; the forces that endangered this phenomenon of ghost workers are very strong forces. They have been entrenched over time and a lot of money is being siphoned out of the coffers of the government.

“Those forces will not fold their arms and allow us to put