Date: 2020-03-16

The Kwara State Government has approved the auditing of the state and local government payrolls to weed out ghost workers.

The exercise would also be used to cut the monthly wage bill, and free up resources for infrastructural development.

The Commissioner for Local Government, Chieftaincy Affairs and Community Development, Aisha Ahman-Pategi, disclosed this at a press conference.

She explained that the comprehensive audit would cost N547m, covering all government ministries, departments and agencies, as well as the entire 16 local government areas, and would last for a 24 weeks.

Ahman-Pategi said, "The Kwara State Executive Council, at its meeting, approved the provision of employees' biometric, clock-in, staff audit, and human resource solution for the state government (and local government) at the contractual sum of N547,627,230" she said.

"The audit is to be done by a consulting firm that has antecedents of similar auditing in other states of the country," she added.

Recall that Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, had said he was hesitant to sign the N30,000 minimum wage bill for workers in the state because he was not convinced that the local government areas could afford the sum that the negotiation panel had proposed.

He said the revenue generated by the 16 local governments ares was not enough to pay the monthly wage bill of the council workers.

But the labour leaders in the state, at the meeting, told the government to embark on auditing of the local government workers.

They said local councils would be able to pay if proper staff auditing was done and the unions were involved in the exercise.