By Charles Igwe
The Abia State Government has announced significant financial savings of over N200 million on its monthly wage bills after uncovering 2,300 ghost names during the ongoing verification exercise of civil servants and public workers in the state.
Njum Onyemenam, the State Accountant General, revealed the achievements made through the implementation of a unified payment system. Speaking after a meeting with Governor Dr. Alex Otti, Onyemenam stated that the verification process is still ongoing, and further savings are expected.
“We have successfully saved N220 million thus far through the ongoing verification of workers in the state, local governments, and pensioners,” said the Accountant General. “By utilizing the unified payment system, we have been able to remove 2,300 fictitious names from the payrolls, and we anticipate identifying more as the exercise progresses.”
Onyemenam confirmed that, in compliance with Governor Otti’s directive, the government recently disbursed the outstanding April salaries left unpaid by the previous administration. Additionally, the pensions for June were paid to retirees.
Furthermore, local government employees who were initially omitted from the June salary payments due to their failure to submit their verified payment schedules will receive their salaries this week, assured Onyemenam.
