80 civil servants have been dismissed by the Niger State Government for their involvements in fraudulent activities and the presence of a fake commissioner has been uncovered.
The Head of Service (HoS), Hajia Salamatu Abubakar while speaking with journalists in Minna, the state capital on Thursday said that the State Executive Council has approved the dismissal of the 80 members of its workforce over alleged fraudulent practices.
Abubakar made it known that the dismissed workers cut across all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), adding that those affected reportedly placed themselves on salaries far above their grade levels.
She said that the dismissal of the affected workers has been approved by the state executive council after a look into the interim report of the staff verification committee.
The state Civil Service Commission has been directed to issue appropriate letters to the dismissed staff, according to her.
In a further statement, she mentioned that the state Health Services Management Board topped the list with 45 culprits, followed by the Schools of Nursing and Health Technology, one person each; Niger State Primary Health Care Development Agency, three; Ministry of Health, seven; Ministry of Education, one; School of Midwifery, one; School of Midwifery, Tunga Magajiya, two; and the state Judiciary, 22.
It was also disclosed that there had been a fake commissioner who although has not been attending the state executive council meeting, has been receiving salary of the commissioner for two years.
The identity of the individual was not disclosed but the original Commissioner for Agriculture, Alhaji Haruna Dukku, said at a post executive council meeting press briefing that “somebody has been collecting the salary of the commissioner for agriculture in the last two years”.
He said, “The person makes it to look as if I am collecting double salary. What will I say if at the end of my tenure, the EFCC comes knocking and this thing has not been discovered before then?”
