Rose Ejembi, Makurdi
Benue government has said it uncovered 433 ghost workers on the payroll of the Teaching Service Board (TSB) after the verification of 4,473 staff across three senatorial zones of the state.
Executive Secretary of the TSB, Dr. Frank Kyungun disclosed this, yesterday, during the constitution of a committee to implement the screening report on the actual workforce of the agency.
He said the screening committee uncovered 18 dead persons, 70 retired staff, 193 redeployed staff, among other irregularities on the payroll and that they were expunged.
Kyungun listed the challenges confronting the teachers board to include lack of utility vehicles and overhead and solicited government’s intervention.
Meanwhile, Benue State governor, Samuel Ortom has debunked insinuations that he would decamp from the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress, (APC) or any other political party, saying he has no such plans.
The governor was reacting to a recent statement credited to the state Chairman of APC, Abba Yaro, that he was on his way to the party.
Ortom in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Terver Akase, said it became necessary to debunk the claim by the APC as the governor was not contemplating leaving the PDP for whatever reason.
Said Akase: “The governor believes that the political, economic and security challenges currently facing the country cannot merely be solved by people decamping from one political party to another. He says what is most important at this point is for Nigerians of all walks of life to join hands and surmount the challenges confronting the nation.”
Akase said the governor was comfortably leading the PDP in Benue State to achieve development milestones for the people and that he remained focused on the mandate given to him to of provide good governance to all parts of the state.