Kano directors pay N18m monthly to 1,830 ‘ghost’ cleaners

The Kano State Government has uncovered 1,830 ghost workers out of the 2,490 casual workers engaged as street cleaners by the state Refuse Management and Sanitation Board, resulting in the loss N18.1m to the state government.

Kano State Commissioner for Information, Malam Garba Mohammed, disclosed this in an interview with theNews Agency of Nigeria in Kano on Saturday.

He said the figure was presented to the State Executive Council during its meeting on Wednesday by the committee recently set up to verify the actual number of the workers.

“According to the committee’s report, out of the 2,490 casual workers of the board, 1,830 are ghost workers.

‘”So, based on the report, the state government is losing N18.1m monthly and this is one of the allegations that led to the setting up of the committee to investigate the issue. You will be surprised to know that for the past three years, the people had been siphoning the money every month,’’ he said.

He added that names of about six directors, alleged to have been involved in the scandal, had been forwarded to the office of the Head of Civil Service for appropriate disciplinary action.

“The office of the Head of Service will investigate their individual involvement with a view to coming up with appropriate punishment,’’ he said.

Kano directors pay N18m monthly to 1,830 ‘ghost’ cleaners