No fewer than 240 workers in Kano State have been found receiving double payments, while another 217 individuals are operating under the same Bank Verification Number (BVN), the state government disclosed on Sunday.
Dr. Sulaiman Wali Sani, Special Adviser to Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf on Civil Service Matters and Chairman of the State Coordinating Committee, made the revelation during a press conference in Kano. Speaking on behalf of the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Sani said the findings emerged following a biometric verification exercise and the diligent work of two standing committees set up to review the state and local government payrolls.
He noted that the discovery was part of the administration’s broader initiative to sanitise the state’s civil service and fulfil campaign promises aimed at restoring integrity to public service management.
“Inherited shortcomings in the payroll system have continued to disturb the government,” Sani stated. “We discovered that 240 employees are drawing double salaries while 217 individuals are operating under the same BVN, suggesting possible cases of ghost workers or identity manipulation.”
Additionally, Sani disclosed that 1,335 workers failed to appear for verification despite more than six months of public announcements, raising further doubts about the authenticity of many names on the government’s payroll.
In a related development, Alhaji Umar Idi, Chairman of the Local Government Standing Committee, revealed that a recent audit exposed 247 questionable names on the local government and primary healthcare payrolls. These included retirees, deceased persons, and cases of unauthorised service elongation.
“Out of these 247 workers, only eight presented themselves before the committee to confirm their employment status,” Idi said. “The remaining 239 names have been flagged for deletion, saving the government a total of N27,824,395 monthly.”
The state government has vowed to continue the verification exercise until the payroll system is fully sanitised and free from fraud.
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