The Cross River State Government says an ongoing payroll verification exercise has uncovered more than 2,000 suspected irregular records, including invalid Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs), duplicate entries and alleged ghost workers, while dismissing claims that teachers are being paid half salaries.
The Commissioner for Local Government Affairs, Chief Victor-Felix Idem, disclosed this during an interactive meeting with labour leaders and journalists in Calabar. The session followed a recent protest by members of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) over salary-related issues.
According to the commissioner, the verification exercise was launched to sanitize the local government payroll system and ensure that only genuine employees receive salaries. He revealed that investigators discovered several anomalies, including instances where a single BVN was allegedly linked to multiple salary payments.
Idem described the findings as a major concern, noting that such practices undermine transparency and proper management of public funds.
“We have identified over 2,000 questionable records in the payroll system. Some cases involve one BVN being used for the payment of salaries to multiple individuals. This cannot be allowed to continue if government is to protect public resources and guarantee payment to legitimate workers,” he said.
He stated that the highest number of irregularities was found within the payroll of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), where thousands of records are currently undergoing verification.
Addressing allegations that workers were receiving half salaries, Idem insisted that the Ministry of Local Government Affairs is not responsible for salary payments. He explained that while the ministry uploads payroll data, the actual disbursement of salaries is handled by the various local government councils.
He challenged anyone making such claims to provide names, payslips and other evidence to enable government investigate the allegations.
The commissioner further assured affected workers whose salaries were withheld because of BVN discrepancies that they would be reinstated after submitting authentic BVNs obtained directly from their banks. He added that labour unions had been granted access to the verification records to identify any errors.
Speaking on behalf of teachers, the Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Cross River State Branch, Comrade Greg Olayi, said the union intervened because several teachers had experienced salary disruptions since the verification exercise began.
While acknowledging government’s efforts to clean up the payroll system, he maintained that some teachers who had completed the verification process were still awaiting the resolution of their salary issues. He also expressed concern over delays in implementing promotions and salary adjustments.
Similarly, the President of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Cross River State Chapter, Comrade Leko Otabe, endorsed the payroll audit, describing it as necessary to eliminate fraudulent entries, unauthorized vendors and other long-standing irregularities affecting salary administration.
However, he urged the government to strengthen consultations with labour unions, arguing that workers’ representatives could help verify records and resolve payroll disputes before they escalate.
On the issue of delayed promotions, the Auditor-General for Local Government, Cross River State, Elder Bassey Abam Eko, explained that the temporary suspension of some promotion implementations was intended to allow government reconcile records, assess the financial implications and prevent possible abuse of the process.
C’River Identifies Over 2,000 Suspected Ghost Workers, Rejects Half-Salary Allegations
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