The Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, has issued a one-month ultimatum to Local Council Chairmen to carry out an extensive physical verification of teachers to unmask the cartel behind padding of their salaries.
Governor Ortom gave the ultimatum at the Government House in Makurdi when he met with Local Government Chairmen, the Chairman and board members of the State Universal Basic Education Board, SUBEB.
Staggering statistics released by the local and state authorities uncovered the protracted problem of padding in wages of its civil servants which teachers form a significant part of.
The State Government had taken steps to unmask those behind the cartel to no avail.
But when it took a major decision to recruit 2000 additional teachers to fill the vacuum created by the death or retirement of a huge percentage, the salary padding scam became more glaring.
Special Adviser to the Governor on Bureau of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Kenneth Achabo, presented a report on audited accounts of the 23 local government councils from 2015 to 2019.
The protracted problem of padding workers wages with names of the dead, retired, or redeployed still found on the payroll is one that needs to be meticulously addressed for the greater good of the state.