Gov. Dickson moves to tackle payroll fraud with BVN

Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, Tuesday, vowed to tackle payroll fraud that had pushed the state’s monthly wage bill to N4 billion.
A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Daniel Iworiso-Markson, said that the government would drive the process to a logical conclusion.
The statement, however, said that the government would commence the payment of salaries of workers who had their Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) at the end of March.
“Those people who are used to adding names on the payroll at the local government level, teaching service, parastatal agencies and in the main civil service must stop.
“They must stop because there is simply no money to service their criminality and greed. They have done it for years and we are saying enough is enough.
“We want a situation where after this verification process, genuine civil servants in the state will all be paid,’’ the statement quoted the governor as saying.
The governor who expressed regret that workers in the state had not been paid for three months, however, assured that efforts were being made to get funds to pay the workers, especially those that had done their bank verification.
The statement warned perpetrators of payroll frauds and those engaged in other sharp practices to stop forthwith or face prosecution.
It expressed confidence that the technology and method being used in the exercise would further reduce the wage bill of the state.