From Tony John, Port Harcourt
The Rivers State Sole Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd), has made shocking revelations about the biometric revalidation of workers and pensioners under the state government payroll.
The Sole Administrator disclosed that during the ongoing exercise, 37,703 staff were verified, against a previous figure of over 43,000 recorded civil servants in the state.
He also hinted that 19,186 state pensioners were verified, compared to over 25,500 in the state’s records.
Vice Admiral Ibas made this disclosure during a meeting with the leadership of organised labour in the state at the Government House, Port Harcourt, on Friday.
Ibas also said 2,004 local government pensioners were verified out of over 2,600, and 8,000 local government staff were verified across seven local government areas (LGAs), including Obio/Akpor, Bonny, Etche, and Degema.
He also set a firm deadline of Wednesday, September 4, for the completion of all local government staff verification, vowing to deploy all necessary state resources to meet this goal.
Ibas, who vowed zero tolerance for corruption, revealed that, while efforts are ongoing, only arrears for March 2025 have been cleared due to challenges with verified records.
He issued a stern warning following the discovery of an overpayment of ₦117 million in the March schedule, which has prompted an official investigation.
“There must be consequences. Such malpractice is a crime against colleagues whose bereaved families are left in pain and penury,” Ibas declared.
