The Federal Government said on Sunday that the removal of 23,846 non-existing workers from its payroll had led to a monthly reduction of N2.29bn in its salary bill.

It stated that through the ongoing Bank Verification Number-based staff audit and enrolment to the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System, the amount spent on payment of salaries to government workers reduced by N2.29bn in February when compared to what it was in December 2015.

The Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, confirmed the development in a statement by her Special Adviser on Media, Mr Festus Akanbi.

The minister in the statement said the ministry was working with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to recover the outstanding balance in banks and pensions contributed in respect of the deleted workers.

The statement reads in part, “Through the ongoing BVN-based staff audit and enrolment to the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System, the Federal Government has removed 23,846 non-existent workers from its payroll.

“Consequently, the salary bill for February 2016 has reduced by N2.293bn when compared to December 2015 at which time the BVN audit process commenced.”

The ministry said the figure represented a percentage of the number of non-existent workers, who had hitherto been receiving salaries from various ministries, departments and agencies.

It added that it was investigating other suspected cases in conjunction with the EFCC.

“The Federal Government is also taking actions to pursue recovery of salary balances in bank accounts as well as any pension contributions in respect of the deleted workers.

“This involves active collaboration with the concerned banks and the National Pension Commission,” the statement added.

The minister stated that the Military Pension Board had revised the amount payable as its pension contributions on a monthly basis by N575m, following its annual verification for military retirees.

Credit: Punch