The Kano Government said it has uncovered major irregularities in the state’s payroll system, discovering 240 workers receiving double salary payments and another 217 sharing the same Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs).
The revelation came during a joint press conference held by the Secretary to the Kano State Government, Umar Faruq Ibrahim, alongside the Chairman of the Standing Payroll Committee, Auwal Sanda, and Chairman of the Local Government Standing Committee, Umaru Idi. Ibrahim, who also serves as the Chairman of the State Coordinating Committee, explained that the discovery followed a statewide verification exercise for civil servants.
He noted that over 2,000 civil servants who failed to appear for the verification had their salaries halted for several months. “Despite several appeals for workers to show up, some still refused. As a result, their payments were suspended,” Ibrahim stated.
Giving a detailed breakdown, Auwal Sanda said 1,335 workers at the state level did not attend the verification, leading to their salary stoppage since September of the previous year. Similarly, Umaru Idi noted that at the local government level, 679 workers missed the exercise, and their salaries were halted from November.
Sanda further revealed that an alarming 240 workers were found to be receiving double salaries. “We will invite the names for interrogation on why their names appear twice,” he said. He also mentioned that some individuals were collecting salaries from both the state payroll and the pension board.
Another shocking discovery was that 217 workers shared the same BVNs, which Sanda described as highly unusual. He said those involved would be summoned for questioning.
Umaru Idi, speaking about the local government payroll, disclosed that 247 ghost workers were identified during the verification. Only eight out of the 247 appeared before the committee to defend their status as genuine workers. “These eight people are still workers of Kano State Government. Their amount is 815,363 naira,” Idi said.
He added that the deletion of the remaining 239 ghost workers would save the government about 27.8 million naira monthly. “If you multiply that by two months, it amounts to roughly 55 million naira,” he noted. The recovered amount would be returned to the joint account of the Kano State Government and the local government areas.
