TheCable

The Ebonyi state government has offered amnesty to ghost workers discovered during a verification exercise carried out in the state.

In exchange, the state is requesting the return of the illegal salaries received.

The offer was contained in a statement signed by Emmanuel Uzor, chief press secretary to David Umahi, governor of the state.

According to the statement, the amnesty period would last from August 30 to September 10.

It said those who embraced the offer would not face prosecution but those who declined the amnesty opportunities would face the law and all monies they took from the government would be recovered.

“We are giving the amnesty to all ghost workers within the stipulated period to surrender and negotiate the repayment of all illegally collected funds to the state and Local Government Areas (LGA),” the statement said.

“The state government is happy to announce that it has made significant progress as the verification has saved it and the LGA about N60 million for one month.

“This exercise will be regular until all ghost workers or workers who benefit from illegal, multiple payments are flushed, to ensure more employment opportunities for our brothers and sisters.

“We have procured the services of financial institutions with bias in Information Communication Technology (ICT) to deploy Bank Verification Number (BVN) in tracking and prosecuting ghost workers.”

The statement also said the governor has directed the relevant authorities to ensure immediate payment of all workers’ salaries, pension and other entitlements for August.

It attributed the delay in payment of the August salaries to the verification aimed at exposing ghost workers especially among teachers and other categories of workers.