The Delta State government has described the rumour making the rounds and a certain online publication that one of the governor’s aide was arrested over a purported salary fraud as false.

It stated in statement that: “The above  story is a complete distortion of the facts and it is imperative to state the facts here.

“His Excellency, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, Governor of Delta State, had identified the burgeoning state wage bill as a source of concern and constituted a committee to address it. The committee which had Dr.(Mrs.) Beatrice Omeni, a former Secretary to the (Delta) State Government (SSG), swung into action on February 12, 2012 by designing a three-pronged model to verify the wage bill and qualify only bona fide members of staff for the state’s payroll.

“The first part of the exercise was for all staff to physically present themselves for capture of their fingerprints and photographs which are stored in a biometric database. The second stage is for staff to present their original letters of employment, birth certificates/age declaration, letter of promotion and academic credentials which are scanned into a document management system database.”

“The third step is to implement a biometric time and attendance system to compliment the other two parts. Right now, the biometrics and documents phases have been successfully completed with documented savings of over N362 million to date and over 400 “ghost workers” have been removed from the state’s payroll.

“The final phase which is the biometric time and attendance system will deliver even greater savings to the state. Contract for its execution has been awarded to a competent vendor who has a track record of success in a sister state.”