21,000 Out Of 60,000 Workers In Kano Indebted To Private Loan Vendors

The standing committee on Pay Parade, which verifies the payment of workers in Kano state, has revealed that 21,000 civil servants out of the total of 60,000 workers in the state are indebted to private loan Vendors.

This indebtedness, under which most are from the teaching sector, results in not receiving anything when the salary is paid at the end of the month.

This was revealed in a meeting on Sunday with committee members, newsmen, and Umar Faruk, the secretary to the state government.

In his address, the committee chairman, Dr Sulaiman Wali, further revealed that 1,335 workers in the state have yet to be verified in the last five months as they have yet to show up at the monthly verification exercise.

“In March, we identified 240 workers with double payments who have been receiving double salaries.
“We are going to ensure that full payments of salaries without those loan deductions are made for the next three months while we verify the issue of those excessive debts.

“However, only those debt deductions will be stopped while the normal statutory deductions will be made, which include pensions, health, life insurance, associations and others”, he stated.

In addition to the abnormalities discovered by the committee, 217 cases of workers also had two individuals using the same BVN. The committee will also verify the issue to ensure no one is paid more than once.

Meanwhile, 679 workers from the Local Government have yet to be verified during the six-month-old salary parade exercise.

The Secretary to the State Government also revealed that Kano State is using physical and technological means to rectify the salaries.

“Under the technological system, we have invented an application that will require the National Identification Number (NIN), Bank Verification Number (BVN), as well as other BioData, including photos”, he added.

Meanwhile, the state government has yet to declare those affected by the verification exercise ghost workers pending completing the committee’s work.