LG uncovers 91 ghost workers

By Chidi Nkwopara

OWERRI—Ninety-one ghost workers have been uncovered in Nwangele Local Government Area of Imo State, with 66  of them in the Health Department of the council.

The Transition Committee Chairman of the council, Chief Phillip Uwazuruonye, made the startling revelation while reacting to the alleged non-payment of the salaries and allowances of some workers on its payroll.

On why some of the workers were demoted, Chief Uwazuruonye explained that there were glaring irregularities in their credentials, stressing that these fraudulent acts were unearthed during a thorough scrutiny of the council personnel.

“The delay in paying the health workers is understandable. 66 ghost workers were discovered in the Health Department alone. Many of the names drawing salaries from the council are those of children of Commissioners in the state, who are still in secondary schools,” Uwazuruonye said.

According to him, some of the identified ghost workers are party loyalists, adding that he never defrauded the council as being alleged.

He noted that the staff audit had saved the council over N323,000 monthly, pointing out that N9.1 million had been lost in paying ghost workers in the last two years.

He decried the involvement of some traditional rulers in the area, who have been sponsoring, particularly health workers to write petitions against the sanitization of the council.