Malam Nasir El-Rufai has personally met with some employees of the state who were affected by the biometric verification exercise carried out to flush out ghost workers and authenticate genuine employees of the state. At the conclusion of the verification exercise, about 9000 names were struck off from the payroll. Any genuine worker who felt adversely affected was directed to contact the governor directly to establish their credentials.
The 21 persons the governor met on Wednesday, 21 September 2016, are amongst the officers that have written to seek a chance to confirm their status as genuine employees of the Kaduna State Government. All of them had issues based on having duplicate or multiple Personnel Sub-head Numbers (PSNs). That means two or more workers had been assigned the same PSN, and the payroll will recognise only one.
All the 21 persons in this batch were able to provide documents that verify their status, and they were cleared. Each received an apology for the difficulties they had faced. They were assured that they will be restored to the payroll, and all their arrears paid. While resolving the multiple PSN issues that had entangled these officers, four possible ghost workers were identified and it was agreed that these four persons be provided an opportunity to clear their names. They are:
- Akwanko Ezekiel
- Yerima Sani
- Solomon Makasua
- Mariam Idris
These four persons have a week to come forward and table all documents that can testify to their bonafides.
Monica PZ Ango works with the Dental Centre, an agency of the Ministry of Health and Human Services. She said her problem was that she shared her Personnel Sub-head Number with three other employees as a result of which her salary was stopped from February 2016. She said after writing to the governor and attaching her relevant documents, she was invited to come for a special screening conducted by the governor himself.
Describing the interaction with Malam Nasir Elrufai, she said “he has thoroughly checked our documents to see where the problems lie. In fact, he has done a good work and I appreciate him for taking his time out to listen to the plight of those of us affected.
“Some of us have not been paid for eight to nine months and the experience so far is not good but we thank the God we have scaled through and he has listened to us and has assured us that something will be done concerning our issues,” she added.
Sharing his personal experience, David John, the Principal of Government Secondary School (GSS) Paki, Anchau Zone, in Ikara LGA, said his problem was that he shared PSN number with one Buhari Isah Yusuf, also a teacher in another zone within the same Ministry of Education.
He said he was called to see the governor for a screening after writing a letter stating his complaints with all his documents attached; “my interaction with the governor is very lively and enjoyable because the governor is very simple, accommodating and friendly. I feel very comfortable now because he assured us that our problems will be solved “
Amina Abubakar works with the Private Schools Board under the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. She said she shared a PSN number with one Lawal Ya’u who is serving with a school in Birnin Gwari. She said she noticed the problem ten years ago and complained formally but nothing was done. “I noticed this problem more than ten years ago and formally complained but the officers said ‘do you want to show us our jobs’? I foresaw this problem coming long ago. So my salary was stopped in January to date.
“When my name was listed among those with problems after the verification started, I complained to my superiors and I was asked to write to the office of the governor which I did and copied the Head of Service, Commissioner of Education, Accountant General and my Director at the Board. Last week we got sms that we are to come and be verified by His Excellency.
“My interaction with the governor is a perfect opportunity for me because I have never been to the Government House. Our governor is a good man that has the plight of people in his heart especially the civil servants.
I feel satisfied that the governor gave us assurance that soon we are going to get our salaries arrears and the problems will be rectified”
