No fewer than 9000 employees in the Akwa Ibom civil service were to be prosecuted for alleged fraudulent drawing of salaries from more than one pay point in the state.
Gov. Udom Emmanuel who disclosed this to newsmen on Monday in Uyo said the massive fraud was uncovered in the preliminary bio-metric exercise recently conducted by the office of the state Accountant-General.
“It is shocking to know that a section of the employees in the state are drawing salaries from more than a pay point.
“We have given the affected employees and those yet to be uncovered, the option to refund the salaries they have fraudulently taken or be prosecuted.”
The governor directed the Permanent Secretaries in Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) in the state to commence finger print verification of all employees.
He said that employees who failed to participate in the verification exercise would have their names deleted from the automated salary paying system and nominal roll.
The governor noted that more than 1,000 employees were yet to comply with the directive.
He reiterated his administration’s commitment to making discipline and zero tolerance for corruption its watchwords. (NAN)
•Photo shows Gov. Udoh Emmanuel.
NEWS EXPRESS is Nigeria’s leading online newspaper. Published by Africa’s international award-winning journalist, Mr. Isaac Umunna, NEWS EXPRESS is Nigeria’s first truly professional online daily newspaper. It is published from Lagos, Nigeria’s economic and media hub, and has a provision for occasional special print editions. Thanks to our vast network of sources and dedicated team of professional journalists and contributors spread across Nigeria and overseas, NEWS EXPRESS has become synonymous with newsbreaks and exclusive stories from around the world.
