Management of Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja, has called on the state House of Assembly to arrest and prosecute a staff member of the institution for his involvement in salary scam.

The management stated that the alleged staff member, Mr. Abdul Hassan Sani, had made frantic attempts to defraud the institution through frivolous claims.

The school management made the call in a statement by Uredo Omale, Director, Public Relations and Protocol, Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja.

The statement by Uredo Omale noted, “The attention of Kogi State Polytechnic Lokoja has been drawn to misleading publications by some bloggers in respect of the payroll irregularities that took place in the institution in 2014; six years before the current leadership of the Polytechnic came on board.

“The issue began with a complaint by one Mr. Abdul Hassan Sani, which necessitated a letter from the Office of the Auditor General, Kogi State, dated 3rd August, 2021, requesting the Polytechnic to provide explanation as to why the name of the complainant was removed from the payroll.

“The Registrar in a reply dated 31st August, 2021, explicitly stated that the complainant presented an appointment letter as Assistant Executive Officer, but there was no evidence of documentation by the said complainant in the Polytechnic, no evidence of posting to any section of the institution for primary responsibilities and there was no record of his clearance in the screening that took place in 2016.”

Uredo explained further that in the same reply, the Registrar stated that the file number claimed by the complainant belonged to a female member of staff at the Polytechnic who was employed in 2014. The staff member had evidence of documentation, postings, and screening clearance at the Polytechnic.

“The Registrar further explained that the said Mr Abdul Hassan Sani was, however, put on payroll and paid salary from June 2014 to November 2015.

“Again, sometimes early this year, the Polytechnic received a letter of summons from the Committee of Kogi State House of Assembly based on a petition by the same Mr Abdul Hassan Sani.

“The Registrar of the Polytechnic appeared before the Committee and provided satisfactory explanation similar to the written explanation to the Office of the Auditor General.

“Therefore, we wish to place on record that there has not been any case of payroll irregularities since the current leadership of the Polytechnic came on board.

“Rather, it was the current Management of the Polytechnic that exposed the hidden irregularities as tendered in explanations to Office of the Auditor General and the Committee of the State House of Assembly.

“We want to, therefore, place on record that the House resolution was based on information provided by the Management of Kogi State Polytechnic.

“We wish to thank the State House of Assembly for their sincerity, objectivity and for not yielding to agents of irregularities.

“We wish to also commend the administration of His Excellency, Alhaji Yahaya Adoza Bello, for the courageous efforts In the staff audit and screening, which stamped out irregularities such as this from payrolls across the state.

“We also wish to call on the State House of Assembly to order the arrest and prosecution of the fraudulent claimant to serve as a deterrent to those who might want to tread a similar path in future” (The Guardian)