Plateau government sacks 534 workers for forgeries

The Governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong, has stated that the state has fired 532 workers, over forged documents.

This was after the findings of a committee, on the verification and audit of staff strength. Lalong disclosed this at the closing ceremony of Policy Retreat for the state Permanent Secretaries, on Tuesday at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru near Jos.

The Governor declared that the enormous manpower gaps that exist in the Plateau State civil service would be addressed at the end of the committee’s assignment.

He said, “Already, about 532 names have been removed from Government payroll after an investigation using the Bank Verification Number (BVN) system, revealed inconsistencies in their records.

“Some had falsified their ages or tampered with their records. Others could not appear to answer queries on such records.

“We shall ensure that all of them are properly investigated and made to face appropriate sanctions. This exercise will be a continuous one.”

Lalong disclosed that the retreat was planned to build the capacity of Permanent Secretaries, because they occupied a distinctive and vital role in administration, and to guarantee their diligence as leaders of the workforce.

He stated, “It is in realization of the fact that you need to invigorate your capacity for creativity, productivity and also strengthen ability for effective and robust service delivery that I approved for this policy retreat to hold.”

The Governor declared that in order for them to efficiently carry out their duty, their skills and capabilities must be updated for understanding and managing change, reforms and new thinking, to bring into line with the ethical values of the state government’s vision.

He said, “This policy retreat was also carefully planned to expand your horizon through strategic thinking, improved competencies, and development of innovative ways, especially in this era of COVID-19 where many things have been affected.

“We are today facing continuous decline in revenue from Federal Accounts Allocation Committee, which makes it very necessary to generate more revenue internally to meet the yearnings of the people.

“This means that we must prioritise spending on areas that will yield revenues in all our Ministries, Department and Agencies, and also block leakages in the system. You have a very crucial role to play in this regard and you cannot afford to fail.”