By Anayo Okoli

UMUAHIA—ABIA State Government has lamented what it described as a large scale fraud in its local government system, saying that it has   discovered about 300 workers who have falsified their  age declaration to evade retirement.

The government  also said that it unmasked a total of 1,642 workers in the 17 local government councils who secured employment with fake certificates.

The State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Chief Charles Ogbonnaya who disclosed this at an interactive session with journalists in his office lamented that some of these people reside abroad but earn salary in the various councils of the State.

Ogbonnaya blamed the atrocity on unnamed senior government officers who benefit from the fraud, but warned that the government would unmask them.

According to him, this is why the 17 local government councils in the state have a bloated workforce of about 17, 000 workers and wondered what 17, 000 workers do in the councils.

The commissioner also said there were cases of staffers who earn salaries in more than one local government  council.

“This was one of the reasons the wage bill of the local governments, including teachers salary has hit N2.2 billion.What the ministry received was N1.7 billion.”

He vowed that the Okezie Ikpeazu administration was bent on clearing the mess “so that only genuine workers who work for the development of the state will earn their pay”.

He named Bende Local Government Council as one of the worst culprits, even as he named seven persons who collect salary from the Local Government, including a medical doctor who works in a Federal Government Hospital and a teacher in Imo state as well as another one who resides in Togo, but still collect their monthly pay from the council.