Gov. Alex Otti has said that no fewer than 2,300 ghost workers have been discovered in the state following the on-going biometric verification of civil servants and public servants in the state.
Otti had during his inaugural speech on May 29, promised to regularly pay workers but vowed to frontally combat ghost workers syndrome.
A statement by the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Kazie Uko, said the State Government had saved over N200 million on monthly wage bill as a result of the verification exercise.
The statement quoted the State Accountant General, Deaconess Njum Onyemenam, as saying that the huge savings were made using a unified payment system.
It further quoted Onyemenam, who spoke after a meeting with the Governor as saying that the verification exercise was still ongoing and that the government hopes to make more savings.
“So far, we have been able to save N220 million from the ongoing verification of workers in the state, local governments and pensioners.
“Not less than 2,300 ghost names have been weeded out of the payrolls, using the unified payment system and we hope to still identify more as we continue with the exercise,” the Accountant General said.
“She confirmed that following Governor Otti’s directive, government had last week paid the arrears of April salaries, left behind by the immediate past administration and also June pensions to retirees”, the statement added.
According to the statement, the Accountant General assured that Local Government staff, who had been skipped when the June salaries were paid, due to their failure to submit their verified payment schedule, “will receive their salaries this week”
In another development, the Abia State commissioner for trade, commerce and industries, Chimezie Ukaegbu, has said the government had banned illegal levies and double taxation in the state.
Ukaegbu stated on Sunday after touring markets in Aba, saying the ban was aimed at reducing financial burdens on the traders and sanitising revenue generation in the state.
He assured that the present administration in the state was committed to giving markets the necessary attention, and appealed to traders to cooperate with the administration.
Earlier, Ukaegbu had told the traders that the tour was aimed at having a first-hand information on their challenges to guide the administration to create a conducive business environment for them.
He said the administration would place premium on smooth trading and reactivation of markets to boost businesses and internally generated revenue.
The commissioner, who urged them to avoid anything that would cause division and discomfort in the markets, solicited their support and cooperation for the administration.
Similarly, the director of commerce in the ministry, Nmecha Udensi, commended Governor Alex Otti and the commissioner for their dreams for traders and the markets.
In their separate remarks, the chairman of Old Court Market, Sunday Anokwuru, and his counterpart of Good Morning Market, Esinna Ogbonna, expressed support for the administration.