Rivers payroll audit: Fubara insists ghost workers must go

File Copy: Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara

Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has defended his administration’s approval of a comprehensive staff payroll verification exercise targeting “ghost” workers across the 23 local government areas.

The governor, who spoke on Monday during the inauguration of the Omademe Internal Roads Project in Ikwerre Local Government Area, said the approval of the verification exercise and implementation of its report were borne out of his administration’s resolve to entrench fiscal discipline in the public service.

On the issue of bloated salary payrolls at the local government level, Fubara said it had been a lingering challenge even before he assumed office, adding that there was a need to tackle it head-on.

According to the governor, the then Local Government Service Commission was already working on the issue before the emergency rule in the state, adding that when he returned from what he described as his “sabbatical leave” and a new commission was constituted, he remained determined to resolve the issue.

Fubara said, having been a Treasury Officer before venturing into politics, he brought his experience to bear by deploying ICT personnel to guide the committee handling the exercise.

He said the committee was designed to carry out the exercise with utmost objectivity and integrity, without political considerations.

“It doesn’t matter whether the people are my supporters. It doesn’t matter whether they are people from the other side. Now there is no other side. We are all Rivers people.

“I want to ensure that the right thing is done. I’m not against you being employed. But the issue is that if you have to be employed, you have to be employed through the proper channel.

“So anybody who is writing anything, saying that it has something to do politically, please desist from it.

“Everything about this state mustn’t be tied to politics. It mustn’t be tied to me and because of this and that. No. Please, at times, let’s be very objective and look beyond the issue of politics and look at facts.

“So, I want to say here that I approved the implementation of that recommendation and I stand by it,” he said.

Fubara described the Omademe road project as part of his administration’s efforts to open up rural communities and link them with other communities to facilitate movement and boost economic activities.

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He pledged that his administration would continue to do what was right and befitting for the people of Rivers State until the last day of his tenure.

“We want to say it publicly here that it’s not about the number of days, but what matters in the life of every administration is the value that is added. So, please, nobody should lose any hope. We will continue to add value till the last day.

“And who knows? God might have something different for us. So, please, I want everybody to cheer up. We are working as one now.

“Let us sustain that tempo for the good of Rivers State. That is where I stand, and I am not shifting grounds on that,” he said.

The governor also charged political leaders across the state to join hands with him to sustain the prevailing peace and put the past political crisis behind them.

“Just think of where we are coming from. Think of what has happened before. For me, I am not interested in going down that road anymore. What is behind me is behind me.

“What I am looking at is what is ahead of me. So, please, let’s look at what is ahead of all of us as a team, as a state, as part of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he said.

Earlier, the Rivers State Commissioner for Works, Prof Temple Nwofor, provided details of the road project.

According to Nwofor, the contract for the internal roads was awarded to Setraco Construction Limited in February 2024, while work commenced in November 2024.

The project comprises 10 internal roads spanning approximately 8.6 kilometres, complete with side drains and outfall discharge systems.

It features a 100mm asphaltic layer, 8.7 kilometres of concrete side drains and a three-kilometre outfall drainage system designed to prevent localised flooding.

In an address, the Chairman of Ikwerre Local Government Area, Charles Wobodo, expressed appreciation to Fubara for the infrastructure but said more road projects were needed to expand the road network in the council area.