PLATEAU State governor, Mr Simon Lalong, revealed on Tuesday that his government has sacked 532 workers over alleged falsification of documents, reports the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). The governor made the disclosure at the closing ceremony of Policy Retreat for the state’s permanent secretaries on Tuesday at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, near Jos.
The governor said the sack, which seems to mimic the mass sack by Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State, followed findings of an investigation by a committee on the verification and audit of staff strength.
According to Governor Lalong, the huge manpower gaps that exist in the Plateau State civil service would be addressed at end of the committee’s assignment.
“Already, about 532 names have been removed from government payroll after an investigation using the Bank Verification Number (BVN) system revealed inconsistencies in their records.
“Some had falsified their ages or tampered with their records. Others could not appear to answer queries on such records.
“We shall ensure that all of them are properly investigated and made to face appropriate sanctions. This exercise will be a continuous one,” Lalong stated.
He said the retreat was organised to build the capacity of permanent secretaries because they perform unique and critical roles in the administration, and to ensure their diligence as leaders of the workforce.
“It is in the realization of the fact that you need to invigorate your capacity for creativity, productivity and also strengthen the ability for effective and robust service delivery that I approved for this policy retreat to hold,” he said, adding that for the permanent secretaries to effectively carry out their responsibilities, their skills and competencies must be updated for them to be able to understand and manage change, reforms and new thinking to align with the ethical values of the state government’s vision.
“This policy retreat was also carefully planned to expand your horizon through strategic thinking, improved competencies, and development of innovative ways, especially in this era of covid-19 where many things have been affected.
“We are today facing a continuous decline in revenue from Federal Accounts Allocation Committee, which makes it very necessary to generate more revenue internally to meet the yearnings of the people.
“This means that we must prioritise spending on areas that will yield revenues in all our ministries, department and agencies, and also block leakages in the system.
“You have a very crucial role to play in this regard and you cannot afford to fail,” the governor said.
