Isiyaku Ahmed
Gombe State Governor, Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya has ordered that the salaries of 781 civil servants in the state be withheld for being absent at work.
The directive was given following the workers’ absence at the Biometric Attendance Verification for Civil Servants in the state on Friday, October 29
According to a statement made available to newsmen in Gombe by the state Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development, Muhammad Gambo Magaji, the workers were penalized for being absent from work in the month of September.
“The grand total for the month of September for both suspensions and investigations; number of staff is 1, 601 with salaries amounting to N106, 935, 152.
“The data capture machines which would be used to take the attendance, expected to be deployed across the state are about 4, 000.
“With the data, we will be able to check and know who is who and it will also help us in deployment of staff to relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies. We will know if we have gaps to fill after we have been able to weed out the so-called ghost workers.
“Of course, the space provided, government will look at it and ensure that our youths roaming the street are gainfully employed and paid from the money that we have been losing over these years,” the statement read.
