Monarch exposes Bayelsa syndicate collecting dead worker’s N600,000 salaries for 7 years

macfranc007 June 21, 2018 Nigeria News today & Breaking news ▷ Read Naija news 24/7 Oluwatobi Bolashodun

- The traditional ruler of Ekeremor, King Gbasia Agbodo, has revealed how a syndicate of payroll fraudsters collected N600, 000 monthly salaries of a senior health worker after his death

- Agbodo said despite the death of the employee, the syndicate ensured that his name remained on the payroll

- The Bayelsa state government called for active participation of whistle-blowers to support its efforts at sanitising the public service

King Gbasia Agbodo, the traditional ruler of Ekeremor, Bayelsa state, on Wednesday, June 20, narrated how a syndicate of payroll fraudsters collected N600,000 monthly salaries of a senior health worker for many years after his death, The Nation reports.

NAIJ.com gathered that Agbodo, who spoke in Ijaw dialect at the ongoing town hall meeting on public sector reforms initiated by the ministry of information, said despite the death of the employee, the syndicate ensured that his name remained in the payroll of Ekeremor local government area causing the wage bill of the council to remain the same.

Agbodo speaking in Ekeremor town said when the syndicate sensed that the fraud could be discovered, they found another means of retaining the figure.

“What they did was to write employment letters with many fictitious names to replace the deceased to the tune of N600,000. They ensured that names of persons for different grades and levels of employment were used to replace the dead health worker.

So, despite the death of the senior personnel, the salary wage bill remained the same. But these reforms came, identified the fraud and stopped it. The fraud in the state’s public sector is entrenched and that is why we are grateful for what Governor Dickson is doing”, he said.

The monarch said he once warned persons in charge of employment to stop giving jobs to under-age and and even unborn children adding that they never listened to him.

The traditional ruler said he watched with nostalgia how persons employed with only WAEC certificates were promoted to grade level 12 in the public service.

Agbodo commended Dickson for taking the bold step to cleanse the public service and urged the people to support him.

He said for initiating and driving the public service reforms, Dickson demonstrated his love and passion for the growth and development of the state adding that the reforms would create employment for graduates.

But he said those involved in the fraud should be identified and prosecuted.

Daniel Iworiso-Markson, the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, in his remarks, appealed to the people to embrace whistleblowing to permanently end sharp practices in the public service.

He called on workers in the public service to report anybody suspected to be involved in payroll fraud and other sharp practices in their places of employment promising that the identities of the whistleblowers would be protected.

PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigeria’s #1 news app

NAIJ.com previously reported that a local government official in Beyelsa state has been arrested for reportedly collecting the salaries of 300 persons as his wages every month.

The state commissioner for information and orientation, Daniel Iworiso-Markson, disclosed on Monday, June 11, that the alleged fraud was uncovered following the ongoing public sector reforms in the state.

The commissioner said the suspect who was an accountant in one of the local government areas at the central senatorial district had been allegedly carrying out the fraud for many years before he was caught.

Why Governors Steal? Rochas Okorocha of Imo State | Naij.com TV