The Abia State Government says it has saved 220million naira on monthly wage bills in the state, following the ongoing verification exercise in the state’s civil service.
The disclosure was made by the Accountant General of the state, Deaconess Njum Onyemenam, in Umuahia on Monday after a meeting she held with Governor Alex Otti.
The Accountant General, who said the huge savings were made using a unified payment system, added that the verification exercise was still ongoing where the state hoped to record more savings.
“So far, we have been able to save N220 million from the ongoing verification of workers in the state, local governments and pensioners.
“Not less than 2,300 ghost names have been weeded out of the payrolls, using the unified payment system and we hope to still identify more as we continue with the exercise,” the Accountant General said.
She confirmed that, following Governor Otti’s directive, the state government last week, paid the arrears of April salaries, left behind by the immediate past administration and also June pensions to retirees.
Onyemenam added that local government staff, who were skipped when the June salaries were paid due to their alleged failure to submit their verified payment schedule, will receive their salaries this week.
