The ongoing screening
and biometric verification of Kogi State workforce being conducted by the government will continue until the civil service is rid of ghost workers.
The Chairman, Staff Verification and Screening Committee, Alhaji Yakubu Okala, made the statement recently in Lokoja in an interview with newsmen.
He said that the exercise was being conducted in phases, adding that the ongoing phase would end in Sept. 30.
He said that the entire workforce (at state and local government) was 88,000 at the beginning of the exercise in February; (comprising of 25,000 state workers and 63,000 in the 21 local councils).
Okala said that after the screening, the figure came down to 63,000 at both levels.
“As at the time the committee submitted its report on 26th July, the total number validated was 18,211 workers for the state; which is still being subjected to scrutiny as workers on Problem Lists are coming with their complaints
“By the time we resolve their complaints, the number will increase.
“The committee has the mandate to further scrutinize even the cleared list,” he said.
The chairman said that the next phase of the exercise would commence soon.
He urged genuine workers with untainted employment papers not to entertain fears even if their names were neither on the cleared or problem lists.
“The only worker that does not have hope and we will do everything possible that he does not have hope, include those that are drawing salaries from the state but are not contributing anything to the growth of the state”, he said.
Okala said that workers whose names were initially on the problem list but had now been screened and cleared would receive arrears of their salaries along with the three months salary to be paid soon.