Kano Gov’t Uncovers ₦27.8m Payroll Fraud

The Kano State Government has uncovered irregularities in the payroll system of local government councils, identifying 247 staff members who were either retired or deceased but continued to receive salaries.

This was contained in a statement issued by the Press Secretary, Office of the Secretary to the State Government, Musa Muhammad.

According to the statement, the discovery was made during a validation exercise targeted at reforming the salary administration system within the state civil service.

It revealed that despite their retirement or death, the names of the affected individuals continued to appear on the payroll, resulting in fraudulent salary payments totaling ₦27,824,395.40 for the month of March 2025 alone.

“In a decisive move towards cleansing the state payroll, the Kano State Government has recorded a major milestone in its ongoing efforts to reform the salary administration system within the state civil service,” the statement said.

The government stated that the fraudulent amount had been recovered and returned to the local government treasury, pending further investigations to determine the extent of the fraud and identify those responsible.

“This recovery underscores the administration’s dedication to entrenching good governance, transparency, and responsible management of public resources,” the statement added.

It further stressed that individuals found to be involved in the payroll fraud would be held fully accountable in accordance with the law.