Kwara Governor Shocked, In Dilemma As HoS, 10 Perm Secs & Directors Involved In N500m Ghost Workers Fraud

The Point - No fewer than five permanent secretaries and five directors have been implicated in the half a billion naira monthly ghost workers’ scandal currently rocking the Kwara State Civil Service.

The revelations were made by highly placed multiple government sources, who spoke with our correspondent in Ilorin under condition of anonymity. The verification committee headed by Alhaji Isiaka Gold, who is also the Secretary to the State Government, had, while submitting its report to Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed recently said they uncovered a total of 8,863 ghost workers, who had been illegally drawing over N440 million monthly from the state’s treasury .

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A source described the scandal as a very big dilemma for the state government, adding that due to the number of high ranking civil servants indicted, the government had become confused about how best to treat the issue. He said, “At least 3 Permanent Secretaries and 5 directors and a former Head of service of the state are under watch, it is suspected that some of them are in the know and they may be shown the way out.

“The number of the uncovered ghost workers is alarming, was it through connivance or something else, we will find out and everything will be revealed for us to guard against such an abuse in future. Everything in this electronic age can be traced to specifics and adequate solution proffered.

Hopefully, we have a robust properly designed data base for workers in Kwara State.” Speaking in the same vein, a Government House source described the scandal as a major headache for the state

government. “The normal thing expected of the government is to have made the indicted officials scapegoats, but they are super civil servants and that is the dilemma.

“The government has lost billions of Naira to this scam in years in both the state and civil service discovered to be paying monthly salaries, allowances and entitlements to fictitious workers,” he said. However, in his reaction,the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor, Dr. Muideen Akorede, said that the government was still studying the committee’s report.

“We are waiting for the committee’s recommendations; we are still studying the situation. There is a grace period for those who may have genuine reasons for not turning up for verification. After

that period, which I believe is three months (we will have to check again), the figures will be reconfirmed and necessary measures adopted.

“The government recognises that the 9-month verification period was enough for all genuine workers and pensioners to be verified. There may still be people with genuine cases such as the sick, those living abroad or others. The final decision on perpetrators can only be taken after the buffer period. The new payroll based on the report will form the basis for paying salaries from this month. Claims and objections can then be looked into on a monthly basis,” Akorede added.

Fresh WAR Brews In Saraki's Camp; Lafiagi Spur For War, Gov Ahmed Cries Foul Over 2019 Kwara Guber, Senatorial Slots

Amidst devastating Code of Conduct Tribunal ongoing trial, the President of the Senate has been enmeshed in another political brawl, but this time with some loyalists in his camp back home in Kwara State, News Punch understands

No doubt, even before the demise of his father, Olusola Saraki, Bukola had turned the godfather of Kwara politics, when he succeeded in installing Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed as Kwara governor against his father's wish to install Gbemi Saraki, his younger sister.

The tussle for the governorship of Kwara State has begun in earnest though the contest is still three years away.

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has always zoned the governorship slot to Kwara North, which has never occupied the post since the return to democratic rule in 1999.

According to Ripples Nigeria, the decision was taken shortly before the second-term election of Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed, who is from Kwara South.

Before him, Kwara Central had ruled the State for 12 unbroken years through Late Mohammed Lawal and Bukola Saraki. They were in charge from 1999-2011.

But the decision to zone the slot to Kwara North is already causing ripples within the APC and the political empire of Senate President, Bukola Saraki.

Investigations revealed that Saraki is rooting for 45-year-old Mohammed Zakari, so reported Ripples Nigeria

The Baruten/Kaiama constituency representative is on a second-term in the Upper Chamber. He is an avid supporter of the Senate President, who is said to be impressed by the extreme loyalty and vibrancy as the young politician.

The former journalist has been enjoying a cozy relationship with Saraki, fondly referred to as the Leader, in the State. But the tacit support for Zakari has pitched Saraki against former governor Senator Shaaba Lafiagi.

Lafiagi feels he deserves the slot naturally being the highest political holder from the zone.

The fact that he has occupied the governorship from January 1 1992-November 1993 under the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) makes him feel more deserving of the slot.

Besides, he has told his supporters that he has more than proven his loyalty to Saraki whose father, Late Olusola Saraki, made Lafiagi governor.

Lafiagi and the elder Saraki fell out then after the former refused to pay ‘royalties’ as demanded by the Late former Senate Leader.

He later apologised after being in political oblivion for almost a decade, a development that earned him appointment in February 2009 as Chairman of the National Sugar Development Council.

He went on to head the planning committee for the April 20, 2009 Special National Convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) after being made a member of the party’s Board of Trustees.

Lafiagi, according to investigations, is prepared to fight Saraki to a standstill should he continue to back the much younger Zakari for the slot.

The Senate President, it was learnt, is indisposed to the Kwara North Senator because he is seen as too independent and might be difficult to control as governor.

Governor Ahmed is also at war with Saraki over the Kwara South Senatorial ticket.

The current occupant, Rafiu Ibrahim, is said to be keenly interested in another term, a development Ahmed considers an affront as a two-term governor.

Ahmed has told his supporters he deserves the right of ‘first refusal’ as a governor, especially based on his unalloyed support for the Senate President.

Though the tussle is still at a murmuring level in the party, competent sources informed that all the interested parties are unwilling to back down.

All of them curiously owe allegiance to Saraki, who is said to be seriously bothered about how to manage the ambitions of the big fishes in his camp come 2019.

The outcome of his ongoing trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) will however determine whether or not the embattled Senate President will be in a position to pull his weight at the right time.