The staff verification committee, set up by the Kogi State Acting Chief Judge, Justice Josiah Majebi, to probe the nominal roll of the state High Court, has discovered 268 ghost workers on the court’s payroll.
The committee has also uncovered 706 illegally recruited staff members on the payroll of the state judiciary just as it recommended the termination of all “illegal” appointments into the services of the state judiciary between January, 2021 and June, 2022.
A statement issued on Thursday in Lokoja quoted that the Chairman of the probe panel, Justice Mohammed Umar, as disclosing this while presenting the report of the staff verification committee to Justice Majebi in Lokoja.
According to Justice Umar, the recruitment malpractice led to an “astronomical” increase in personnel emoluments, representing a 40% increase in personnel costs.
The report partly read, “After a careful check of the names of newly-employed staff from January 2021 to June 2022, the staff disposition list and payroll, it was discovered that some of the names on the payroll could not be found on the staff disposition list of the courts and other departments.
“Therefore, it is an indication that though their names are on the payroll, they do not have duty stations and do not work anywhere in the inspectorate offices.”
