FCTA staff wrongly tagged as ghost workers lament delayed April salaries

Some civil servants under the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), who were erroneously classified as ghost workers, have raised concerns over the continued delay in receiving their April salaries.

About 50 of the affected staff, out of a total of 230, say they are yet to be paid despite earlier assurances by the Chairman of the FCT Civil Service Commission, Chief Emeka Ezeh.

The workers, including personnel in critical sectors such as healthcare, had their salaries withheld in April without prior notice or explanation, aside from being labeled as absentees.

Following the incident, affected groups—among them the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD)—launched a warning strike to protest what they described as a sudden and unjustifiable action. While the protest led to the payment of salaries for most of the affected employees, a significant number have still not been credited due to what officials described as technical issues within the payroll system.

Ezeh had, last week, issued a formal apology and pledged that all pending salaries would be disbursed by Friday.

However, as of Wednesday, May 14, the outstanding payments had not been made, prompting renewed appeals from the affected workers.

The employees—comprising doctors, administrative staff, and other professionals—urged the Commission to act swiftly to resolve the matter and relieve them of the financial pressure they are currently facing.

Explaining the situation earlier, Chief Ezeh admitted that a payroll verification exercise aimed at cleaning up the system had mistakenly flagged some legitimate staff.

According to him, the error occurred during an internal audit to eliminate fictitious names from the government’s wage structure.

“In our effort to rid the payroll of ghost workers, some genuine staff were inadvertently affected,” he stated.

“We regret the hardship this has caused and are working to ensure their salaries are paid promptly.”