The Taraba State Accountant General, Mr. Gaius Danjuma, has accused the state’s Payroll Verification Committee of giving inaccurate reports and failing to present a true account of its findings to Governor Agbu Kefas.

In a statement issued on Saturday, he said the committee had already misled the government with questionable figures and appeared unfocused in carrying out its assignment.

According to him, several numbers submitted to the governor were exaggerated and did not match the records held by his office.

He stated: “The attention of the Accountant General’s office has been drawn to an audio circulating on social media on the report submitted to His Excellency by the Payroll Verification Committee. The Accountant General’s office has carefully perused the said report and observed that most of the information contained therein are inaccurate. Consequently, the Accountant General’s office wishes to respond as follows.

“It is glaring that the Committee is not ready to give the State Government a true picture of her findings. This is so because at the commencement of her task, it furnished the Government with misleading information. For instance, the committee deliberately included the names of deceased persons and retirees (including a retired Civil Servant who is a member of the committee).”

The statement also countered the committee’s figures on unpaid workers, saying the actual number of civil servants who had not been paid was 4,209 by the committee’s own record, and 4,049 on the payroll — not 7,800 as stated in the committee’s report. It noted that judges’ salaries are handled by the National Judicial Council, and the state only pays rent supplement allowances.

The Accountant General said the committee’s claim that some retired High Court judges were still on the state payroll could not be confirmed by his office because it is not responsible for determining those due for retirement. He urged the committee to publish the names it referenced.

He also rejected the committee’s claim that the Accountant General refused to pay 1,410 cleared workers. He explained that payment was delayed because he followed the governor’s instruction directing the Auditor General to harmonize the list of unpaid staff before any approval.

On the committee’s allegation of 7,357 ghost workers, he said the issue had already been addressed by all parties and wondered why it was being raised again.

The statement further clarified that some names appearing in the payroll had been approved for employment across several agencies in October 2025. It denied claims of an overpayment of over N1 million in the payroll, though it confirmed a separate overpayment issue detected in July 2025.

According to him, the July discovery involved 21 officers whose payment file appeared manipulated: “It was detected in July 2025 that there was overpayment in excess of original payroll value to 21 officers amounting to N23,873,800 instead of N3,473,866.68. The difference being N20,399,933.32 which suggests that there could be a connivance between the committee and the consultant.”

He added that the committee showed inconsistency in its conduct, noting that it reported only nine files were submitted by the Post Primary Schools Management Board, whereas investigators found that 1,080 files were actually submitted.

He also faulted the committee’s handling of memos from the Health Services Management Board (HSMB), saying its lack of scrutiny suggested insincerity. He pointed out that during screening, a special unit was created to protect the interests of a senior civil servant.

He urged the committee to thoroughly examine activities within the HSMB if it was serious about transparency.

The Accountant General concluded by listing the committee’s submissions, which did not add up to its stated claim of 1,410 affected workers.

Efforts to get comments from members of the Payroll Verification Committee were unsuccessful. (Saturday Tribune)