Rose Ejembi, Makurdi
Benue State Government has uncovered 433 ghost workers on the payroll of the Teaching Service Board (TSB) after verification of 4,473 staff across the three senatorial zones of the state.
Executive Secretary of the Board, Dr. Frank Kyungun disclosed this on Wednesday during the constitution of a committee to immediately implement the screening report on the actual workforce of the state Teaching Service Board, TSB.
He explained that the screening committee uncovered 18 dead persons, 70 retired staff, 193 redeployed staff among other irregularities on the payroll who were accordingly expunged.
Kyungun listed the challenges confronting the board to include lack of utility vehicles and overhead among others and solicited government’s intervention.
Other members of the implementation committee constituted by the Governor include representative of the Head of Service, representatives each from Commissioner for Finance, office of the Accountant General, Attorney General and Commissioner for justice while the Executive Secretary of TSB will serve as secretary of the implementation committee.
On his part while constituting the Committee, after receiving the screening report from the Executive Secretary of the Board, the State Governor, Samuel Ortom announced that the committee would be headed by Commissioner for Education, Professor Dennis Ityavyar.
He urged the Committee to ensure that those who had milked the board through ghost workers be identified and prosecuted, even as he directed that the ghost names be immediately deleted from the payment voucher.
Governor Ortom also charged the TSB boss to ensure that the names to be deleted do not find their way back on the payroll.