Gombe State government says that, over 668 workers have been excluded from the state’s payroll.
This was according to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), quoting the Hon. Commissioner of Finance and Economic Development, Muhammad Magaji of saying that the exclusion of the affected workers were discovered following the beginning of the implementation of biometrics in the state. The state Commissioner who briefed journalists on Friday however noted that the affected workers did not show up for verification after the commencement of the enrolment, hence their suspension from the payroll became necessary
Analysing the situation, Magaji stated, 431 workers from the 84 ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) of the state were affected as the biometrics was done in two local governments – Gombe and Akko – and also in the Local Education Authority (LEA) of both local governments. According to him, in Gombe LG, a total of 103 staff didn’t show up for the biometrics comprising 44 LG staff and 59 LEA staff.
“In Akko, 134 workers comprising 83 LG staff and 51 LEA staff were affected and had been taken out of the payroll. However, N31.18 million, N3.19 million, and N3.94 million were saved from the suspension from the state’s MDAs, Gombe LG and Akko LG respectively”
Meanwhile, NAN had quoted the Commissioner saying that the total workforce of both the state and local government was 67, 000, pin pointing, workers in the 84 MDAs of the state had been enrolled in the biometrics machines and their biometrics information captured as well as all LG and LEA workers in Gombe and Akko LGs. He stated however that the exercise is not yet over “If you have been suspended for three months and you don’t show up, you are deleted; it means you are not a staff and you do not exist.
