By Samuel Oyadongha & Emem Idio

Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State, yesterday, raised alarm that fraudsters who have been manipulating payroll systems in the state, have made councils in the state unviable, swearing in an eight-member Local Government Service Commission to sanitise councils’ administration in the state.

This came as the governor told members of the Senate Committee on State and Local Government Administration, in the state on an oversight visit to verify how the funds have been utilized, that he never interfered with councils’ administration.

Swearing in the committee, governor Dickson stressed the need for the commission to tackle the issue of payroll fraud and instill discipline in the local government system.

•Gov Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa

According to him, no local government in the state was viable as a result of the activities of fraudsters, which he said, had made payment of salaries and other financial obligations difficult.

The governor directed the commission to take out those overdue for retirement, absentee workers, as well as those illegally employed as the government lost over N1 billion servicing ghost workers.

Meanwhile, receiving members of the Senate Committee, the governor  said: “Sometimes we feel pains at the blanket categorization that state governors mismanaged resources meant for the local government councils. It does not happen here. I don’t know about other states, but in Bayelsa State, as enquiries have shown, every local government council has access to its funds. In this state since we took over, we have never made any deductions from the local government account.  In Bayelsa State, local governments are financially autonomous in the sense that the state does not interfere or meddle with council funds. We do not meddle with the resources of the local government councils.”