The Kogi State Government has stopped the salaries of 231 individuals working in the State Civil Service.
The State Head of Service Mrs. Hannah Odiyo disclosed this in Lokoja while flagging off issuance of State Identity Cards for workers.
Odiyo noted that the affected civil servants failed to comply with Kogi State government’s directive to update their records.
Salaries of the affected civil servants, according to the Head of Service, have been suspended since November 2023 till date.
Odiyo explained that the exercise was carried out in a bid to further authenticate the updated staff records.
She explained further that in May 2022, her office had earlier sent out an enclosed form (Bio Data Form) to all Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) to be filled by the civil servants and returned.
She emphasized that authentic data was required for adequate planning by the government, especially in a transition period.
“Although the Bio Data exercise revealed a lot of inadequacies on the part of the MDAs, a total number of 231 staff have failed to show up for the updated records exercise, which has led to the suspension of their salaries since November 2023 till date.
“The question now is, where are they? Who are they? Are they ghosts?” She queried.
Earlier, the Permanent Secretary, Research Evaluation and Policy Analysis/Certificate Verification Department (REPA), Mrs Shuaib Memunat Dede, in a welcome address, commended the Head of Civil Service for her pro-activeness in ensuring the actualization of the project.
