The Katsina State Government has dismissed 3,488 workers across the 34 Local Government Councils and Local Education Authorities after a biometric screening revealed widespread fraud.
Governor Dikko Radda, who received the report said 50,172 staff were screened, with 46,380 verified, while others were flagged for fake credentials, ghost postings, absenteeism or failure to appear.
The report, presented at the State Executive Council meeting, showed that the exercise created the state’s first unified digital database of LGC and LEA staff. Monthly savings of about ₦453.3 million are projected if the recommendations are fully enforced.
The committee also discovered falsified birth certificates, underage employment, illegal promotions and cases where positions were sublet.
It recovered ₦4.6 million from officers who drew double salaries or were paid while on leave.
Committee chairman Abdullahi A. Gagare disclosed that the Education Secretary of Zango LEA was implicated in inserting 24 ghost workers, describing it as “a serious breach of trust.”
Governor Radda said, “We have been in the system for a long time, and we know these things exist. Many people complained and even warned me that the Committee’s work could damage my politics and cost me elections. But I was not worried, because the situation in Katsina required reforming the system and doing the right thing.”
He directed that the findings be turned into a White Paper and revealed that councils now save about half a billion naira, which could rise to ₦5.7 billion with the committee’s recommendations.
“I did this to save the state from the grip of a few. This is how we can have money to work for the general people in our local governments,” he added.