. . . Weeds out 222 ghost workers

Anambra State government has sacked six directors for certificate forgery and 222 ghost workers in the local government system.

Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo had taken a hard look at the rot in the Anambra local gov­ernment system and ordered an audit of the staff.

Daily Independent gathered on Thursday that the staff audit un­covered 222 ghost workers while six directors who forged their cer­tificates had their appointments terminated by the state govern­ment. They have been asked to refund salaries received by fraud before leaving.

It was also discovered that two staff of College of Education, Nsugbe in Anambra East Local Government Area and an accounting officer, who secured dual employment in the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka and the local government system and receiving salaries from both ends for four years despite the fact that he had disengaged his services with the local government system was also sacked.

According to the Chairman of Anambra Local Government Service Commission, Mr. Vincent Ifeanyi Ezeaka, We discovered six directors with questionable certif­icates and we sent them home and on Wednesday we set up a commit­tee for verification headed by a retired Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Ndidi Onuigbo, the chairman also ordered four members to screen from level 1 to level 14 on certifi­cate, age falsification and date of first appointment and also cross check their records for the next three months.

From January, this year, a total of 222 ghost workers were removed from the pay role of the local government system and we discovered two staff members, one is a lecturer with College of Education, Nsugbe, who left four years ago but still receives salary from the local government while the other one is an accounting officer at the Audit Department of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, but still receiving salary from the local government for the past four years.

We have asked them to come and refund the money paid to them for four years before we dismiss them.

The total number of workers in the Anambra State local government system is 4,300 staff after we had removed the ghost workers and those that forged certificates.

Ezeaka further explained that the activities are part of the Governor Charles Soludos agenda to sanitise the system, adding that since June, this year, the Local Government Service Commission commenced and concluded the verification and biometric/physical capturing of staff in the twenty one local government areas of the state.

He noted that from the exercise it discovered the unrestrained looting and mismanagement of the local government accounts which was linked to the dedicated tracking system, continuous monitoring by security agents for the recovery of looted funds and prosecution of culprits.

What we are doing is part of the solution agenda of Governor Charles Soludo who insists on new ways of doing things in Anambra State and if we can sanitise the local government, sanitise the community, the state would be sanitised at large, he said. (Daily Independent)