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Tag: Civil Servant

  • Bauchi govt sacks senior civil servant over alleged N3m salary scam

    Bauchi govt sacks senior civil servant over alleged N3m salary scam

    The Bauchi State Civil Service Commission (BSCSC) has terminated the appointment of Ibrahim Garba, Chief Secretarial Assistant attached to the State Pension Board over alleged ”serious misconduct of salary and pension scam”.

    This is contained in a statement by the Information Officer, BSCSC, Mr Saleh Umar in Bauchi on Tuesday.

    he commission alleged that Garba’s action violated the Public Service Rule (PSR) 0327(XI) which deals with the issues of financial embezzlement.

    “The commission approved the termination during a sitting of the 17th plenary session held on Aug, 1.

    “A disciplinary committee of the State Pension Board found Garba guilty of swapping the account number of one Audu Mohammed, now deceased, with his own.

    “This facilitated the change of pay point after the relatives of the deceased reported his death.

    “Thereafter, he received illegal pension for 55 months of N54,871 for four years and seven months which amounted to over N3 million.

    ”This amount will be recovered from Garba’s benefits,” he said.

    He further explained that the chairman of the commission, Alhaji Abubakar Usman has called on workers in the state to be God-fearing in the discharge of their duties.

    He said the Public Service Rule (PSR) must be observed and adhered to as a guide

    The chairman assured the civil servants in the state that no worker will be victimised for nothing and the commission will not fold its hands while bad eggs sabotage the service.

  • Fuel Subsidy Removal: Abiodun announces 10,000 palliatives, allowance for civil servants

    Fuel Subsidy Removal: Abiodun announces 10,000 palliatives, allowance for civil servants

    Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun on Monday  rolled out N10,000 palliative and other measures for public servants in the state to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal.

    The Governor made this known via a statement, saying that the realities of the country and commitment of his administration to ameliorate the effects of removal of fuel subsidy on the well-being of the good people of Ogun State, his government has approved a cash palliative of N10,000 for each public servant, including pensioners to enable workers to cope with the economic shocks occasioned by the removal of fuel subsidy for 3 months in the first instance with effect from July 2023.

    The package also included  hazard allowance for all health and medical personnel in the State, as well as approve peculiar allowance for public servants in the State.

    Abiodun also ordered the immediate release of letters of promotion in respect of 2021 and 2022, as well as the payment of March and April 2023 leave bonuses for public servants in the State.

    The governor further ordered immediate cash-backing for the quarterly payment of gratuities to pensioners, adding that all Ministries, Departments and Agencies are to work out modalities of ensuring that 20% of their staff strengths are off-duty daily to ease the effect of the recent increase in fuel price among public servants.

    Abiodun added that his government would begin distribution of food palliatives to the vulnerable, saying that Gateway Trading Company has been directed to ensure the establishment of distribution outlets across the state, while items must be sold at the rate obtainable before the fuel price increase.

    “Also, fertilizers and other farm inputs are to be supplied to farmers at subsidized and controlled prices.

    “Other measures include the commencement of conversion of State Mass Transit buses to CNG including staff buses and current public transportation buses in circulation to reduce the cost of transportation by charging rates comparable to what was obtained before deregulation.

    “Immediate Road Infrastructure Intervention, with all the local governments working with Community Development Associations and Community Leaders to submit three roads that require immediate intervention as part of the palliative programmes and support for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises through Special Schemes to boost production capacity and employment generation,” he stated.

  • Subsidy palliative: Ebonyi government increases workers’ pay, to recruit 1,454 civil servants

    Subsidy palliative: Ebonyi government increases workers’ pay, to recruit 1,454 civil servants

    The Ebonyi state government has approved immediate increment of ₦10,000 to the state civil servants across board to cushion the effect of subsidy removal by the federal government.

    The government also okayed the recruitment of 1,454 Ebonyians into the state workforce .

    Commissioner for Information and State Orientation, Mr Jude Okpor, made this known on Friday during a press conference on the outcome of Thursday’s State Executive Council meeting held at centenary city, new government house, Abakiliki.

    He said, “The Executive Council led by His Excellency the Chairman of Council approved that N10,000 be added to every worker’s salary in the state to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal as palliative.

    On the Ebonyi state University ( EBSU) Abakiliki, the commissioner stated that governor Nwifuru mandated the secretary to the state statement(SSG), Professor Grace Umezuruike to look into the finances of the institution and determine the upwards review of subvention of the university.

    “Council also approved the employment of 1,454 Ebonyians into the state civil service to fill in vacancies created in the services over the years.”

    According to Okpor, the governor gave matching order to the Commissioner for Water Resources, to ensure that water runs in all the nook crannies of Abakaliki, the state capital, before the next Executive Council meeting.

    “His Excellency was made to understand the hardship people in the state capital are facing over the problem of water and resolved that it must come to an end,”

  • Edo govt increases minimum wage, reduces number of work days

    Edo govt increases minimum wage, reduces number of work days

    In order to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal the Edo State Government has increased the minimum wage for workers in the state from N30,000 to N40,000.

    The increment in the  minimum wage was announced via a statement released on Tuesday by Governor Godwin Obaseki.

    The Edo governor also reduced working days from five to three, while the remaining two days will be work from home by civil servants in the state.

    He assured that his administration would stand with workers “in these very challenging times”.

    Obaseki also said his administration would do all within its power to ameliorate the sufferings of residents.

    “As a proactive government, we have since taken the step to increase the minimum wage paid to workers in Edo state from the approved N30,000 to N40,000, the highest in the country today,” the statement read in part.

    It added that “the Edo State government is hereby reducing the number of work days that civil and public servants will have to commute to their workplaces from five days a week to three days a week till further notice. Workers will now work from home two days every week.”

  • Just in: 36 days to go Buhari begins 40% salary “raise and arrears” payment to federal civil servants

    Just in: 36 days to go Buhari begins 40% salary “raise and arrears” payment to federal civil servants

    The Federal Government has started paying the 40 per cent pay raise arrears to civil servants in the country.

    Reports monitored indicated that the government started the payment on Saturday, April 22.

    President Muhammadu Buhari had proposed a 40 per cent pay rise arrears for federal civil servants to cushion the effects of the planned removal of fuel subsidy.

    The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, later announced the approval by the Federal Government, adding that the pay rise had been included in the 2023 budget.

    Ngige disclosed that the payment would take effect from January 1, 2023, adding that the rise will be applicable to all workers from level 1 to 17.

    Reports said that some federal civil servants, on Saturday, started receiving bank alerts of the arrears.

    “I received my my own arrears today. Some of our other colleagues have also confirmed receipt of their arrears.

    “It came in alongside our April salary,” a high-ranking civil servant in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, who craved anonymity, told Punch.

    Details later…

  • Ayade threatens to sanction erring civil, public servants

    Ayade threatens to sanction erring civil, public servants

    Gov. Ben Ayade of Cross River has threatened to sanction erring civil and public servants in the state’s establishment to achieve enhanced productivity.

    The governor made this known in a statement signed by his Deputy Press Secretary, Mr Linus Obogo on Tuesday in Calabar.

    Ayade said he had directed Mr Timothy Akwaji, the state’s Head of Service, to step up monitoring of civil and public servants to entrench discipline and efficiency in the workforce.

    He said effective monitoring became necessary to achieve the desired productivity in the state’s Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDA) as well as curtailing the excesses of officers.

    “This directive which is to ensure punctuality as well as deal with issues of truancy among civil and public servants, is intended to reawaken the zeal and virtues that make the service unique.

    “In light of this, any member of staff found wanting shall face appropriate sanction in line with the provisions of the civil service rule,” he said.

    In an interview with NAN a civil servant who preferred anonymity, said civil servants in the state were coping in spite being owed salaries.

    “It is sad that the state government would always want to pick on the civil servants who are actually sustaining the state.

    “We are in August and some workers in the state are still being owed June salary and no one has received anything for July, yet workers are still going to work.

    “I think the governor should rather commend the workforce,” he stated.

    Another civil servant from the Ministry of Education, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said no one should give the civil servants in the State a bad name.

    He said that civil servants in the state were trying their best in spite not getting their legitimate salary as and when due.

    The source said that it was also difficult for civil servants to get their gratuity and pension when they retire from service.

  • Top Borno civil servant bags 28 years jail term for N86m fraud

    Top Borno civil servant bags 28 years jail term for N86m fraud

    A Borno State High Court, sitting in Maiduguri, has sentenced a civil servant, Ma’aji Shettima Arfo, to 28-years-imprisonment for engaging in an N86.1 million contract fraud.

    Arfo, who was sentenced to jail by Justice Haruna Mshellia, of Borno State High Court, 3, was the General Manager of the state-owned Maiduguri Flour Mills Limited, where he committed the fraud.

    He was charged on a six-count by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) for offences bordering on abuse of office and conferring undue advantage on himself.

    The charge sheet showed that Arfo, while acting as the General Manager of the Flour Mill, between 2014 and 2020, engaged in multiple frauds in violation of Sections 12 and 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000 and punishable under relevant sections of the same Act.

    One of the counts on which he was convicted revealed that he awarded multiple contracts to Falkwat Multilinks Limited, a private company where he was a director, to supply diesel (Automotive Gas Oil) and maize to Maiduguri Flour Mills.

    Counsel to ICPC, Anas Mohammed Kolo, while arguing the case, told the court that the convict in October 2015, awarded a N4.9 million contract to Falkwat Multilinks Limited to supply 40,000 litres of diesel to the flour mills.

    The court further heard how Arfo, while being a public servant, awarded several contracts between 2016 and 2017 to his private company, Falkwat Multilinks Limited, to supply maize to Maiduguri Flour Mills Limited.

    For instance, he authorized the payments of N42.1 million to his company in July 2016 for the supply of 386.45 metric tonnes of maize and another N23 million to the same company in March 2016 to supply 306.94 metric tonnes of maize to the state-owned flour mills.

    He was convicted for yet another offence when he approved the payment of N16 million to Falkwat Multilinks to supply 217.45 metric tonnes of maize.

    Justice Mshellia, at end of the trial, found the general manager guilty of four counts out of six preferred against him and sentenced him to seven years imprisonment on each count. The judge ruled that prison terms will run concurrently.

  • Civil servants in C/River protest removal of names from payroll

    Civil servants in C/River protest removal of names from payroll

    Some civil servants whose names were removed from the payroll of the Cross River Government on Monday in Calabar picketed the state secretariat complex, demanding reinstatement.

    The protesters carried placards with various inscription such as “Ayade pay us our salaries, “No Trade Union in Cross River”, “We will protest until we are reinstated”, among others.
    It would be recalled that the state government in August 2019 removed the names of no fewer than 2,500 civil servants from its payroll.
    One of the protesting civil servants, Mr James Obeten, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the situation had caused untold hardships in his families.
    “We were duly employed in 2015, and were given employment letters, it is very shocking that the government stopped our salaries since August 2019.
    “Without any reason, our names were dropped from the payroll, they claim that we were employed through the backdoor,” he said.
    He said that the affected workers had undergone several screenings to ascertain the legality of their employments, saying, “our names have not being reinstated till today”
    Obeten urged the state government to consider the plight of the affected workers whose families had been subjected to hunger and difficulty since 2019.
    “Many of us are now homeless, our children are already out of school, life is getting worse by the day,” he said.
    Also speaking to NAN, another protester, Miss Eno Akan, accused the Nigeria Labour Congress of abandoning them in the struggle.
    She expressed the resolve of the affected workers to remain resolute in the struggle until their salaries were paid.
    When contacted, Mr Monday Ogbodum, the Cross River State Chairman, Trade Union Congress, said the matter had been discussed with the state government, and that it would soon be resolved.
    “We have been discussing with the government through the office of the Head of Service, those who were genuinely employed in 2015 will soon be reinstated.
    “We did not abandon the struggle, we are doing our best to resolve the matter, there are plans to carry out screening to know those who were genuinely employed,” he said.
    Reacting to the protest, Mr Christian Ita, Special Adviser to the governor on Media and Publicity said that plans were already concluded to conduct a screening exercise in order to determine people who were genuinely employed.
    “I think that this protest is unnecessary, after the screening, those who were erroneously removed from the payroll will be reinstated.
    “ The government reached an agreement in March with the organised labour to resolve this abnormalities. This process was delayed by the outbreak of the Coronavirus,” he said.
    He urged the protesters to remain calm as the state government was working with the organised labour to begin the process of reinstating them.
  • INCREDIBLE: Civil servant smuggles brother’s name on payroll, promotes him to GL14

    INCREDIBLE: Civil servant smuggles brother’s name on payroll, promotes him to GL14

    A senior civil servant, Mohammed Ndanusa, has been arrested in Minna, the Niger state capital after it was discovered he smuggled his biological brother’s name into the state government’s payroll, since 2009.

    Ndanusa, who was working at the Ministry of Health collected the extra salary in his brother’s name for almost 11 years, before the bubble burst on Tuesday.

    He even arranged to promote the brother several times, from Grade Level 10 to Grade level 14.

    Surprisingly, Ndanusa’s brother, Tanimu, was discovered to be a motorcyclist in Minna and could therefore not have qualified to be on the level, his brother crookedly arranged in his name.

    Ndanusa’s 11 year-fraud was bursted when he asked his “Okada-rider” brother, Tanimu Ndanusa to appear for screening.

    The Niger State government is presently said to be on a physical verification of all civil servants.

    According to reports, when Tanimu Ndanusa appeared before the panel, he did not come with any certificate. And he could not even speak, like a senior civil servant on Level 14.

    Members of the screening committee were stunned and called the police.

    The two brothers, Mohammed Ndanusa and Tanimu Ndanusa have been arrested by the police.

    Mohammed Ndanusa has, however, confessed to the crime.

    He confessed that he fraudulently employed his brother on grade level 10 in 2009 and subsequently, over the years promoted him three times to grade level 14.

    Police spokesman in Niger State has assured that the suspect would be charged to court as soon as investigation is concluded.

  • Eid-el-Fitri: Bauchi State workers to receive May salaries Wednesday

    Eid-el-Fitri: Bauchi State workers to receive May salaries Wednesday

    The Bauchi State Government has approved the payment of May salaries of it’s Civil Servants ahead of the Eid-el Fitri celebration slated for May 24.

    Governor Bala Mohammed disclosed this in press statement signed by the Senior Special Assistant on Media, Comrade Mukhtar Gidado and made available to TNG on Sunday.

    According to the statement, “…the State Accountant General has been directed to ensure that the salaries are paid on or before the 20th of the month, to enable workers, including pensioners enjoy a happy Eid-el Fitri celebrations…”

    Also in the statement, Governor Mohammed assures civil servants of the commitment of his administration to ensure prompt payment of salaries in addition to other reforms introduced to ensure effective service delivery.The Governor equally enjoins workers in the state to ensure total compliance with all the protocols against the infectious COVID-19 pandemic.