Gombe State Government halts salaries of 781 workers over absenteeism

For being absent from work in September, the Gombe State Government has postponed the payment of 781 workers’ salaries.

Muhammad Gambo Magaji, the state’s commissioner for Finance and Economic Development, revealed this at a monthly press conference on Friday, October 29, in Gombe, on the implementation of the Biometric Attendance Verification for Civil Servants.

Magaji claimed that another 820 workers will be probed, and that the state government would save N50 million by suspending the affected workers’ salary for the month.

According to Magaji, the 820 staff with salaries amounting to N56 million are to be investigated but would earn their salaries for the month.

“The grand total for the month of September for both suspensions and investigations; number of staff is 1, 601 with salaries amounting to N106, 935, 152,” he said.

Magaji said all the workers in the 11 Local Government Areas of the state had been captured in the biometric system, while opportunity would be given to those that missed the biometric attendance to get enrolled. He added that those that missed the exercise would now have until Nov.

11 to get their data captured, the final opportunity for workers to get enrolled if not captured. According to Magaji, the first batch of the biometric machine had arrived and would be deployed.

He added that by the end of November, all machines would have arrived and deployed across the state. “The data capture machines which would be used to take the attendance, expected to be deployed across the state are about 4, 000,” he said.

He further stated that at the end of the mop up on Nov. 11, all workers’ employment details would have been captured as the data would help the state in planning.

“With the data, we will be able to check and know who is who and it will also help us in deployment of staff to relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies. We will know if we have gaps to fill after we have been able to weed out the so called ghost workers.

Of course the space provided, government will look at it and ensure that our youths roaming the street are gainfully employed and paid from the money that we have been losing over these years,” he said.