By Erewunmi Peace

The Katsina State Government has dismissed 3,488 workers from local government councils and education authorities after uncovering widespread salary fraud through a biometric audit.

The audit, which screened 50,172 personnel across the state, verified 46,380 workers as legitimate. According to the report submitted to Governor Dikko Umaru Radda, those dismissed were found guilty of various irregularities, including underage employment, forged credentials, double payments, and the insertion of ghost workers into payrolls.

The committee also revealed that ₦4.6 million was recovered from fraudulent salary payments. Notably, in Zango Local Education Authority, 24 ghost workers were discovered, while other councils recorded cases of absenteeism and impersonation.

Governor Radda commended the committee for its work and pledged to fully implement the recommendations, promising that the findings would be converted into a white paper to guide future reforms.

“We will not allow payroll fraud to cripple the state’s finances. Every Kobo must work for the people of Katsina,” the governor stated.

The government assured that the exercise was not a witch-hunt but a necessary step to sanitize the civil service and free resources for development projects.

This move follows growing concerns across Nigeria about payroll fraud and ghost workers draining public funds. Katsina now joins other states that have embarked on large-scale biometric verification to restore accountability.