[Nigeria] Borno payroll padded with names of babies

A staff verification exercise in Borno State, Nigeria, has revealed a payroll padded with names of babies, The Nation reports.

On November 27, Governor Babagana Zulum announced that the payroll of Shani Local Government Area contained some baby names. The money that had been paid out - including salaries and allowances - went into the pockets of corrupt officials, he said.

The governor was speaking at the Menwara Cultural Festival in Shani town. The staff verification, he said, was intended to sanitise the civil service by removing the names of ghost employees from the payroll.

The governor said “at the end of the verification exercise, names of babies were found in the payrolls while N19 million was paid to fake employees in Shani Local Government Area monthly.

“It was discovered that one family alone has 300 fake employees and if this trend continues, I am afraid, Shani LGA may not be able to pay the monthly salaries of its employees, in future.”

Some in the state, however, objected to the government carrying out the verification.

Zulum said he had met with the Emir of Shani, Alhaji Muhammad Nasiru Mailafiya and other stakeholders over their objections and directed the Commissioner of Local Government and Emirate Affairs, Sugum Mai Mele, to take a fresh look at the verification exercise and consider the perspectives of those with genuine cases.

Source: The Nation

(Quotes via original reporting)

A staff verification exercise in Borno State, Nigeria, has revealed a payroll padded with names of babies, The Nation reports.

On November 27, Governor Babagana Zulum announced that the payroll of Shani Local Government Area contained some baby names. The money that had been paid out - including salaries and allowances - went into the pockets of corrupt officials, he said.

The governor was speaking at the Menwara Cultural Festival in Shani town. The staff verification, he said, was intended to sanitise the civil service by removing the names of ghost employees from the payroll.

The governor said “at the end of the verification exercise, names of babies were found in the payrolls while N19 million was paid to fake employees in Shani Local Government Area monthly.

“It was discovered that one family alone has 300 fake employees and if this trend continues, I am afraid, Shani LGA may not be able to pay the monthly salaries of its employees, in future.”

Some in the state, however, objected to the government carrying out the verification.

Zulum said he had met with the Emir of Shani, Alhaji Muhammad Nasiru Mailafiya and other stakeholders over their objections and directed the Commissioner of Local Government and Emirate Affairs, Sugum Mai Mele, to take a fresh look at the verification exercise and consider the perspectives of those with genuine cases.

Source: The Nation

(Quotes via original reporting)