By Frank Ulom
CALABAR (CONVERSEER) – The Cross River State Local Government Service Commission has uncovered 800 ghost workers still on the payroll across the state.
This was disclosed by Darlington Bassey Eyo, Chairman of the Commission, during a personnel auditing and verification exercise for local government staff across the 18 local government areas in the state.
The exercise, aimed at reducing the state’s bloated wage bill, saw 800 ghost workers still collecting salaries.
“The commission has been conducting a thorough audit of local government staff to identify ghost workers and ensure that only eligible employees are on the payroll.
“During the audit, the commission discovered 800 ghost workers whose names have been removed from the payroll,” Eyo stated, emphasising that the exercise is part of the commission’s efforts to sanitise the public service and ensure transparency.
He said the commission is committed towards a unified location government service where efficiency and high productivity remain in focus.
He noted that harmonisation of payroll will enable the timely payment of salaries to staff in their respective local governments of assignment.
Eyo who commended Governor Bassey Otu for approving recruitment into the local government service, expressed displeasure over speculations that jobs were being sold.
The Chairman also directed all local government staff to obtain Continuous Voters’ Cards from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in their respective local government areas.
