Ondo State Government has suspended 25 civil servants in its employment for allegedly engaging in fraudulent activities, including placing fictitious names in workers payroll.
One of the suspended workers was a man, who ‘employed’ and placed a worker on level Grade Level 14 without any interview even as the government was not aware of such employment.
The Senior Special Assistant to Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu on Special Duties, Dr. Doyin Adebowale, disclosed the suspension of the workers when they were being paraded at a police station.
Odebowale said the civil servants were caught for various offences, including stealing millions of naira, employment racketeering and including fictitious names in the payroll of the state government.
He specifically said a staff of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) allegedly stole the sum of N104million from the coffers of the board.
Odebowale told journalists that the suspended civil servants would be prosecuted and severely dealt with.
He explained that they were caught due to reforms carried out by the state Head of Service, Mr. Alex Aragbaye.
According to him, “We are here because of certain suspects whom the governor directed that we should prosecute. In the civil service, there has been this stealing going on undetected. They do it in several ways especially through staff list.
“We have people who added fictitious figures in the payroll. When the new Head of Service got into office, he put in place certain reforms to make us know those in actual service.
“We were able to discover that certain elements whose names appear on staff list were never employed. A particular man employed his wife and placed her on Grade Level 14. She never attended interview but she had been collecting salaries.
“One of them moved N104 million out of SUBEB account. We have other instances of other millions of naira moved. These were pure stealing. They have been suspended. They will be prosecuted and made to face disciplinary measures.”
