Oyo govt uncovers 41 ghost workers

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The Implementation Committee  of the Oyo State 2019/2020 Civil/Public Servants Audit and Payroll Re-engineering/Validation Exercise has recommended the removal of 41 workers classified as “No Show” (ghost workers) by the consultants.

The consultants had indicted 602 officers and recommended them for removal from the payroll, but the Implementation Committee affirmed 41 ghost workers; cleared 40 others of any infraction; uncovered 10 deaths; 170 systematic retirements; and affirmed the option of voluntary retirement by 341 others with irregular records of service.

Making the disclosure, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Seyi Makinde, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, said the Implementation Committee had examined the report submitted by the consultants and interacted with the affected officers before finalising the implementation model.

Messrs Sally Tilbot Consulting was, in 2019, engaged by the Oyo State Government to undertake employees and pensioners’ verification/validation and payroll re-engineering, tagged 2019/2020 staff audit.

Following the reconciliations, the report of the consultants was received by the government on April 30, after which an Implementation Committee was put in place to fashion out the final implementation model.

The 13-member Implementation Committee, headed by the Permanent Secretary, Civil Service Commission, Mr. D. O. Olatunde, affirmed that “41 officers established to be “No Show” should be removed from the government payroll immediately.”

The committee recommended that an administrative investigation be undertaken by the government to determine where the salaries of the “No Show” officers had been going.

Adisa said of the 341 who indicated their decision of voluntary retirement to the Implementation Committee, 290 officers had turned in their voluntary retirement letters, while the 24 officers, who failed to take advantage of the two-month window, have been retired by the concerned agencies of the government.

The Implementation Committee put together its report in May.

Messrs Sally Tilbot Consultants had, earlier in its report submitted to the government, indicted 602 workers and advised that they be removed from the payroll.

The Implementation Committee, however, recommended that the government should affirm the resolve of 341 officers, who opted to retire voluntarily, following the discovery of irregular records of service in their files.

The affected officers are to be “helped to port into the pension payroll not later than two months after their notices of retirement,” the report stated.