7th September, 2012
Thousands of workers of the 57 local council areas in Lagos State have been having sleepless nights over the ongoing staff auditing in all the council areas.
The staff were required to produce vital documents including their educational qualifications which they had attained several years ago. LG Circuit learnt that the excercise had forced many council staff to run from pillar to post in the last one week.
But the Permanent Secretary and Auditor-General for Local Governments, Lagos state, Southwest Nigeria, Mr. Mubashiru M. Hassan, has assured that the current verification of the credentials of council workers was meant to strengthen local government administration in the state.
Hassan who disclosed this during a chat with LG Circuit, added that more ghost workers have been discovered within a short while that the programme commenced.
“Within a few days now, we have discovered some ghost workers. There are some people who are overdue for retirement and are enjoying protection by the system. Many have retired, but are still there,” he disclosed.
The credential verification exercise by the office of the Auditor-General for Local Governments which is been held in conjunction with the Ministry of Science and Technology has put fears in the mind of many local government workers in Lagos State.
Since the exercise was flagged off last week at Ikeja Local Government Secretariat, the workers across the state have been on their toes amid apprehension, presenting their credentials including their Primary School Leaving certificates.
Visits to some of the councils revealed that the fear had gripped many of the workers who appeared to be in the dark over the likely outcome of the exercise which, it was learnt, would last one month.
“You can see how we are now running helter-skelter. No one knows what will be the outcome of the exercise; that is what is giving us some concern,” said a worker at Odi-Olowo Ojuwoye Local Council Development Area (LCDA) over the weekend. Some of them were on a long queue, waiting for their turns, when LG Circuit visited the council.
Speaking in the same vein, a staff of Orile-Agege LCDA who pleaded anonimity said the excercise had forced many of them who had their early education in other southwest states to travel long distances in search of their primary six certificates.
He expressed the hope that at the completion of the verification excercise, ghost workers at the councils will not only be detected and floushed out but genuine LG staff who had hitherto lied about their ages and or lenght of service would be detected adding that workers who have no skeleton in their cupboards need not entertain any fears.