The Katsina State Government has dismissed 3,488 staff members from 34 local government councils and local education authorities after a biometric screening exposed widespread fraud.
Governor Dikko Radda received the screening report on Wednesday during the State Executive Council meeting. The exercise verified 46,380 workers out of 50,172, while the rest were found with fake documents, ghost postings, absenteeism, or refused to appear.
According to the report, the state now has its first unified digital database for local government and education staff. If fully implemented, the recommendations could save the state about ₦453.3 million monthly.
The committee also uncovered falsified birth certificates, underage employment, illegal promotions, and cases where staff sublet their positions to others. It recovered ₦4.6m from officers who were collecting double salaries or getting paid while on leave.
Committee chairman Abdullahi A. Gagare revealed that the Education Secretary of Zango Local Education Authority allegedly worked with others to add 24 ghost workers. He described this as a “serious breach of trust.”
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Governor Radda said he was aware of the risks but insisted on reforms.
“Many people warned me that the committee’s work could damage my politics and cost me elections. But I was not worried, because the situation in Katsina required reforming the system and doing the right thing,” he said.
He directed that the findings should be turned into a White Paper for full implementation.
Radda also disclosed that local governments have already saved about ₦500 million, which could rise to ₦5.7 billion if the recommendations are followed.
“Despite high revenue allocations, many local governments in Katsina still struggle to pay salaries. Councils such as Kafur, Malumfashi, and Daura carry very heavy wage bills, mostly due to workers who are not genuine,” the governor explained.
He added that cutting fraudulent wage bills will free up more funds for grassroots development.
“I did this to save the state from the grip of a few. This is how we can have money to work for the general people in our local governments,” Radda said.