A major payroll fraud has been uncovered in Gombe State’s health sector, with Governor Muhammadu Yahaya revealing on Thursday that his administration flushed out 440 ghost workers, saving the state over N4.5 billion.
The discovery, according to the governor, followed the introduction of a biometric attendance system across health facilities. The system, he explained, was designed to curb absenteeism, improve accountability, and block leakages in the system.
“In order to eliminate ghost workers and reduce absenteeism, we introduced a biometric attendance system, exposing about 440 ghost workers and saving over N4.5 billion,” Yahaya announced at the maiden Gombe State Health Summit held at the Gombe International Conference Centre.
Yahaya said the findings highlight why his government has embarked on sweeping reforms to rebuild a health sector he described as “neglected and decayed” when he assumed office in 2019.
He listed his administration’s ongoing reforms to include:
(1).Revitalisation of primary healthcare centres,
(2).Modernisation of secondary healthcare facilities,
(3).Introduction of contributory health schemes, and
(4).Establishment of pharmaceutical services to strengthen access.
“Our vision is to create a seamless, comprehensive healthcare ecosystem that delivers affordable and quality service to the people of Gombe,” the governor added.
Wider Trend of Workforce Cleansing
The revelation in Gombe comes on the heels of similar payroll cleanups in other states. In Katsina, Governor Dikko Radda recently disclosed that a biometric screening exercise of over 50,000 staff exposed 3,488 ghost and unqualified workers across the 34 local government councils and local education authorities.
Out of the total workforce screened, 46,380 staff were verified, while others were caught presenting fake certificates, absconding from duty, engaging in fraudulent practices, or refusing to appear before the committee.
Governor Radda described the outcome as “a turning point in sanitising the public workforce and plugging waste.”
With the back-to-back revelations, analysts say Nigeria’s states may finally be embracing technology-driven audits to tackle payroll fraud — a perennial drain on public finances.
