BAUCHI: Top officials in 20 LGAs suspended over primary healthcare salary scandal

All local government education secretaries and their treasurers, as well as directors of primary healthcare in the 20 local government areas of Bauchi state have been suspended with immediate effect.

The Bauchi State government ordered the suspension as part of efforts to ensure that the on-going investigation into the payment of workers’ salaries was not compromised.

State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Ladan Salihu, made this known in a statement on Friday.

The statement directed the affected officers to handover affairs of their offices to their immediate subordinates.

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Salihu explained that the state government had found it expedient to make a further statement regarding the payment of salaries as more than 41,000 civil servants on the government payroll in the Administration of Salaries and Pension in the State and Local Government were being paid without Bank Verification Number.

He said that this represented more than 40% of the state’s workforce as the total number of staff on the state and local government payroll is 83,885, while state and local government pensioners is 17,314, resulting to the total payroll staff strength of 101,199.

The commissioner added that the official breakdown of civil servants in Bauchi State without is 5,316 in the State Civil Service, 19,605 in Local Education Authority, 1,933 in Primary Healthcare, 4,705 in Directorate of Local Government, 4,019 in State Pensioners, while is 5,870 in Local Government Pensioners.

The state government has already directed that salaries meant for the 41,488 names on the payroll without BVN be warehoused by the State’s Accountant General pending further investigation.

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