The Kogi State Government has stopped the salaries of 231 individuals employed in the State Civil Service who failed to adhere to the directive of the Kogi State government to update their records.
The State Head of Service, Mrs Hannah Odiyo, revealed this in Lokoja while inaugurating the issuance of state identity cards for workers.
Odiyo pointed out that the affected civil servants did not comply with the Kogi State government’s directive to update their records. According to the Head of Service, the affected civil servants’ salaries have been suspended from November 2023 until the present date.
She clarified that the exercise was conducted to authenticate the updated staff records further. In May 2022, her office initially distributed an enclosed form (Bio Data Form) to all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to be completed by the civil servants and returned.
Odiyo stressed the importance of authentic data for effective government planning, especially during a transition period.
“While the Bio Data exercise uncovered various inadequacies within the MDAs, a total of 231 staff members have failed to participate in the updated records exercise, leading to the suspension of their salaries from November 2023 to date. The question now is, where are they? Who are they? Are they ghosts?” she queried.
Earlier, Mrs Shuaib Memunat Dede, the Permanent Secretary of the Research Evaluation and Policy Analysis/Certificate Verification Department (REPA), commended the Head of Civil Service for her proactive efforts in ensuring the realization of the project in her welcome address.
