Worried by the alarming increase in the wage bill of workers in the state, the Kogi State government has moved to correct the anomaly.
To this end, the state government has commenced the capturing of Biometric Data of all civil servants in the state.
It has been reported that the wage bill of civil servants in the state had suddenly risen from N1.4 billion to N3 billion, which has given the state government a lot of concern. The new move was aimed to ascertain the number of civil servants in the state.
The Biometric capturing exercise is expected to be conducted by the Skye Bank Plc in collaboration with state government.
Kogi State governor, Captain Idris Wada, while commissioning the exercise at the State Secretariat Complex in Lokoja, said the data capturing exercise had become necessary in view of the alarming increase in salary wage bill of the civil service, which was inherited from the immediate past administration.
Wada clarified that the exercise was not aimed at witch-hunting or sacking civil servants, but maintained that it was targeted at ensuring that salaries are centrally coordinated for efficiency in payment to workers.
His words, “Government is committed to bringing on board a plat form of improved integrity in the payment of salaries. It is our duty and responsibility as government to know the actual number of staff working for the state.”
Wada, however, directed all civil servants in the state to make themselves available for the exercise in their own interest, noting that the result of the exercise would be used to improve on their welfare.
Meanwhile, the Kogi State Joint Public Service Negotiation Council and other stakeholders have also directed their workers to make themselves available for the exercise.
