YENAGOA
Bayelsa State Universal Basic Education Board, SUBEB, on Thursday said over 50 dead teachers in the state still receive monthly salaries. The Board also uncovered 765 illegal employees in its payroll.
The names of the 50 dead teachers were discovered in Ogbia Local Government Area of the state while the names of the illegal employees were spotted in the eight local government Areas of the state.
The state government said that following the discovery of the fraudulent acts in SUBEB over N100 million has been saved for the state.
Speaking to newsmen in Yenagoa, Executive Secretary of SUBEB, Comrade Walton Liverpool said that with the latest discoveries, by the time the exercise is concluded, the government will be saving over N100 million monthly.
He lamented that some of the staff collecting monthly salaries in the State reside in Abuja, Lagos and Ghana.
Liverpool said the discovery cuts across the eight local government areas of the state with Ogbia Local Government Education Authority topping the chart with over 230 illegal employees.
The Secretary said a breakdown of the fraudulent acts shows that 192 illegal employees were discovered in Southern Ijaw; 136 in Sagbama and 108 in Ekeremor local government.
Others include 9 in Brass, 9 in Nembe, 25 in Yenagoa and 40 in Kolokuma/Opokuma local government areas.
According to him, ‘these workers were illegally employed by fraudsters and are now parading themselves as civil servants.
He noted that the Governor Seriake Dickson led administration since its inception has placed embargo on fresh employment, but that some people went behind to employ their cronies and backdated it to 2007.
“‘In the course of our investigation, after cross checking the 2007 nominal roll and vouchers with the recent ones, it was discovered that over 765 names have been infused. This has been the practice of some unscrupulous officers in the Local Government Education system.
‘Some of the affected workers are being aided by the Local Government Education Authority staff. As I am talking to you now, one of them is cooling off at the State Criminal Investigation Department and more will still be arrested.
On the issue of ghost workers, Liverpool said the fraudsters will usually parade some people that will bear those names and present sworn affidavits for their date of birth, change of names and certificates.
‘It will interest you to know that there are some people on the payroll that are residing in Lagos, Abuja and even Ghana and are drawing salaries in Bayelsa. I am not exaggerating, it is happening.
According to the Board Secretary, “By the time, we conclude this exercise, more names will be discovered. I have my facts. With this discovery, the state government has been able to save N100m from SUBEB alone ”
