Zamfara govt uncovers over N216m fraud in ministry of finance

Zamfara govt uncovers over N216m fraud in ministry of finance

- Some top officials in the Zamfara state ministry of finance are accused of engaging in fraudulent activities in the state civil service

- The state commissioner of finance, Alhaji Rabiu Garba Gusau says the Zamfara state government has suspended the directors in charge of payment of workers’ salaries

- Garba Gusau discloses that a 119-year-old ghost worker, who by the records had retired from the Zamfara state civil service, has remained on the payroll

Some top officials in the Zamfara state ministry of finance have found themselves in trouble after the state government uncovered salary payment-related fraud amounting to N216 million.

The state commissioner of finance, Alhaji Rabiu Garba Gusau, told Daily Trust that the discovery has prompted an investigation and that the directors in charge of payment of workers’ salaries have been removed from their positions.

Zamfara govt uncovers over N216m fraud in ministry of finance
The Zamfara state govt has suspended directors in charge of payment of workers’ salaries
Source: Facebook

“We have removed them and we are checking the areas of responsibility of each one of them to ascertain who should be held responsible for particular wrongdoing and anyone found involved will not escape justice,” he said.

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The commissioner disclosed that a ghost worker who by the records had retired from the Zamfara state civil service has remained on the payroll and he is now 119 years old.

Garba said 485 workers who were supposed to have gone on retirement were found collecting salaries, PM News reports.

The commissioner noted that some directors of finance were complicit in the fraud by inflating the state’s workers' monthly wage bill and pocketing the excess.

He pointed out that further investigation revealed that there was a scam at the state Health Service Management Board (HSMB) where the suspended directors of finance were fraudulently selling out fake offers of employment at the cost of N250,000 to innocent job seekers.

The commissioner also disclosed that 108 workers were discovered to be were collecting a double salary, noting that they would be handed over to the state’s ministry of justice for prosecution.

He said the affected workers found collecting more than one salary at different MDAs were among the 4,972 civil servants who were suspended from receiving a salary for the month of December 2019 as a result of various irregularities.

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Garba said the fraud in the workforce was discovered during the ongoing investigation of workers’ salary issues by the state’s ministry of finance.

Meanwhile, Senator Kabir Garba Marafa's younger brother, Alhaji Sambo has explained why he resigned as the special adviser to Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara state.

Sambo, in a statement he sent to journalists, said he resigned to enable him to concentrate on his private businesses, adding there was no rift between him and the governor.

He said, most importantly, his decision would pave way for other persons from their teeming supporters to be considered for appointments.

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