The Chairman of the Taraba State Staff Verification Committee, Haruna Abubakar Abdulkadir, has confirmed the removal of over 7,000 ghost workers from the state government payroll. The move, he explained, was part of a broader effort to sanitize the civil service and eliminate fraud.
Speaking in Jalingo, the state capital, Abdulkadir — who also serves as the Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Secretary to the State Government — stated that the affected individuals were smuggled into the civil service through unofficial means and lacked valid employment documentation.
“The names removed from the payroll were individuals who had no official appointment letters, and in many cases, could not even identify their place of assignment. Shockingly, some were inserted at senior grade levels, such as Grade Level 14 to 16, despite lacking the basic qualifications, including a secondary school certificate,” Abdulkadir said.
He clarified that Governor Agbu Kefas had approved the recruitment of only 3,000 replacement staff for Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), to fill vacancies arising from retirements and deaths. However, the committee uncovered over 7,000 names submitted by MDAs — a figure that far exceeded the governor’s authorization.
Refuting claims that Governor Kefas submitted a separate list of 3,000 names for employment, Abdulkadir explained, “The governor only approved 1,000 new appointments based on requests submitted by the various MDAs. The notion that the governor forwarded a personal list is false and misleading.”
He urged any legitimate employee whose name was mistakenly removed from the payroll to return to their head of department with documented proof of appointment duly approved by the governor, for reconsideration.
Addressing the fraudulent inclusion of unapproved names, the permanent secretary alleged that some government computer operators were complicit in the scheme, reportedly collecting between ₦800,000 and ₦1,000,000 from unqualified individuals in exchange for illegal insertion into the state payroll.
“The verification exercise is ongoing. In due course, those involved in this criminal activity will be exposed and brought to justice,” Abdulkadir assured.
The exercise, he emphasized, is part of Governor Kefas’s broader agenda to reform and restore integrity to the Taraba State Civil Service.
