Benue lost over N1.4bn to fraudulent practices btw 2015, 2016 — C’TTEE

By Peter Duru

MAKURDI— INDICATIONS emerged weekend that Benue State Government, lost over N1.4 billion to fraudulent practices and salary payments fraud between 2015 and October 2016.

The chairman of the Salary Verification Committee set up by Governor Samuel Ortom to look into the state bloated wage bill, Mr. Tertsegha Ikyaabo, made this known when he led members of the committee to present an interim report to the governor in Makurdi.

Ikyaabo, who explained that the report covered about 10,300 staff in 60 Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, of government noted that the committee relied on  verification of salary payment vouchers, staff records and physical sighting of staff as parameters for the exercise.

He said: “Our committee discovered eight ways by which salary increases were illegally effected in the various MDAs some of which were inclusive of 81 persons either dead or retired on the payroll of government amounting to N116.1 million within the period under review.”

Others include 91 persons who collect salaries above their grade levels and those given appointments outside the mainstream of the state civil service who continued to enjoy salaries long after being relieved of such appointments amounting to N105.9 million within the same period.”

He said there were 35 cases where some officers found themselves transferred to places without going through laid down procedures with N18.6 million collected as salary in addition to another category of 30 officers whose contracts expired but continued to draw salaries worth N36.2 million.

The Chairman who explained that the exercise was yet to cover tertiary institutions and other agencies of government, urged Governor Ortom to take urgent steps to expunge all the identified beneficiaries of the illegal payments from the payroll to plug the leakage of government resources.

Responding, Governor Ortom said the interim report was a confirmation of the committee’s capacity in assisting the state government to unravel the mystery behind its huge wage bill, saying that the N1.4 billion would have helped the state clear salary arrears of some workers in the state.

The Governor handed the report to the Chairman, Salary Payment Committee and State Deputy Governor, Mr. Benson Abounu to expedite action on its implementation.

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