The Zamfara State government has expressed concern over the large number of ghost workers in the state’s civil service, calling the situation “alarming” and perplexing.
Barrister Ahmad Liman, the State Head of Service (HoS), disclosed this during a press briefing in Gusau, highlighting the challenge of accurately determining the number of genuine civil servants employed by the state.
According to Liman, the verification exercise—still ongoing—has so far revealed that ghost workers are primarily concentrated in the health and education sectors.
“In a particular hospital, there were 22 health workers receiving salaries, but the verification revealed that only two health workers are genuine,” he lamented.
Liman, who also serves as Chairman of the Steering Committee on the Verification Exercise, stated that the current administration inherited unresolved issues from the previous government, including flaws in the implementation of the 2019 minimum wage of N30,000.
The verification exercise is expected to conclude by end of November 2024, after which a dedicated salary committee will be established to address salary adjustments.
Once the verification process is completed, Liman assured that the state government would implement the new minimum wage of N70,000.
However, he noted that accurate data on the number of legitimate civil servants is essential before any wage adjustment can proceed.
“We cannot implement the new minimum wage without knowing the number of civil servants in the state,” Liman said.
