Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue revealed that the state administration has successfully saved N1.2 billion by identifying and eliminating 2,500 non-existent employees from the teachers’ and local government councils’ payroll.
Mr. Alia made this announcement during an All Progressives Congress (APC) extraordinary stakeholders meeting held in Makurdi on Friday.
He stated that the government’s savings of the aforementioned amount resulted from the initial phase of verification conducted on primary and secondary school teachers, as well as the staff payrolls of local government councils.
During this verification, the team responsible found instances of ghost workers, ghost schools, double dipping, illegal employment, salary padding, payments to deceased or retired individuals, and unauthorized replacements.
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The governor mentioned that they now pay N800 million to teachers, as opposed to the N1.6 billion paid by the previous administration.
He expressed his commitment to civil service reform, highlighting the concerning fact that staff on grade level 9 were heading those on grade levels 14 to 16 in some cases.
Governor Alia also disclosed that when he assumed office, he inherited an empty treasury, and 90 percent of government offices, including the Government House, were in a state of disrepair.
He pointed out that he started his tenure without the usual governor’s car and mentioned that the assembly members were yet to receive theirs 28 days into office.
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Despite these challenges, he emphasized his determination to fix the broken system and acknowledged the lack of need for complaints since he was aware of the existing issues before taking the position.
Furthermore, he clarified that there were no problems between himself, the leader of the party in Benue State, Senator George Akume, and the entire APC family in the State.
Earlier, the chairman of APC Benue, Austin Agada, stated that the meeting was organized to express appreciation to the governor for his victory and successful inauguration.
He assured that the welfare of the people would not be taken for granted during the governor’s tenure.
He also apologized on behalf of the party for any past mistakes, taking full responsibility and promising that such issues would not reoccur.
Senator Jacob Gyado, another stakeholder, also confirmed that there were no problems between Senator Akume and Governor Alia.
He praised their collective efforts and hard work, expressing gratitude for having the right candidate brought forward by a leader who was divinely inspired.
