Payroll fraud in Kwara raises dust

…Govt claims it uncovered unlawful payments to disengaged teachers

Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has received a report of the committee that investigated the unlawful salary payment to 48 disengaged sunset teachers for the month of March, saying appropriate actions will be taken against anyone implicated in the heist.

The Governor had set up a three-person committee to probe revelations that some of the teachers who were disengaged in December 2020 were paid in March. The panel comprised Barrister Saka Razaq (chairman); Barrister Murtala Sambo; and Mrs Adenike Ojo.

Speaking at the submission of the committee’s report, the Governor insisted that the “Integrity of the payroll of the state government is very important to us. A situation where people will upload names that are not supposed to be on the payroll will not be tolerated by the state government. That’s why we set up the committee to look into it, find the culprits, and recommend solutions to it.

“Let me appreciate your work. It is straight, fast and voluminous. Government will look into it and take appropriate action.”

Barrister Razaq, for his part, said the committee was inaugurated on the 30th of April, 2021 to consider the circumstances surrounding the infiltration of 48 disengaged SUBEB sunset staff into the March 2021 payroll.

“We invited all the departments involved (their heads and members). We asked them to put their defence in writing and we invited them for oral cross examination and presentation,” he said.

“In our cross examination, we examined them based on the document submitted. We even engaged forensic experts in order to detect somethings. We have now come up with our findings and recommendations.”

The committee’s report confirmed the unlawful inclusion of 48 names of sunset teachers into the March payroll and recommended that queries be issued to some officers involved in the preparation of the payroll, a rejig of the Office of Accountant General, and refund of the amount involved by the consultant that paid the money, while government takes steps to avoid a repeat of the ugly development.