Kogi state government today announced that the 10-month long workers’ screening exercises has been concluded and re-assured that no genuine worker would be sacked by government.
This was made known during a press briefing at the Banquet Hall, Government House, Lokoja by the staff verification committee.
The committee assured that the final reports of the verification exercise will be ready by Friday.
In their submissions, the committee led the state accountant-general, Alhaji Okala, assured that government will pay all salaries for the year 2016 on or before December 20 and that those who scaled through the appeals will be paid all their arrears. Newly cleared workers and pensioners will be paid their arrears as soon as the final reports are out in a couple of days.
The committee disclosed that cleared Local Government staff have been paid up to September while cleared state workers have been paid up to August 2016, with the September and October schedule already sent to the bank for payment.
The state government expressed that it is concerned by the hardship some genuine workers who are yet to be paid have passed through which was caused by the ghost worker cabal in the state. The committee assured that those found to have defrauded government through double salaries and other related offences to be prosecuted.
They assured civil servants and pensioners in the state that the government will regularize salary payments henceforth as the final reports will ensure a credible payroll for the workers.
