Katsina State has uncovered a massive payroll fraud, with thousands of ghost workers and fraudulent staff draining local government funds. A new biometric screening exercise has now projected ₦453.3 million in monthly savings for the state.
Governor Dikko Umaru Radda received the bombshell report on Thursday, declaring that the reforms will free Katsina from “the grip of a few” who have long hijacked council payrolls.
The 10-member screening committee examined 50,172 workers across the 34 Local Government Councils (LGCs) and Local Education Authorities (LEAs). Only 46,380 were genuine.
The rest — 3,488 staff — were caught with fake certificates, falsified birth dates, absenteeism, double salaries, and even cases of “job subletting.”
The committee also forced the recovery of ₦4.6 million from officers who drew salaries from multiple agencies or stayed on the payroll while on leave.
In one of the most damning discoveries, the Education Secretary of Zango LEA was accused of creating 24 ghost workers with collaborators — a scandal the Governor described as “a serious breach of trust and abuse of office.”
Governor Radda admitted he was warned that the screening could “damage his politics” and cost him elections.
“I was not worried. Katsina needs reforms, and this is the right thing to do,” he said.
He revealed that local councils already have ₦500 million saved, which will rise to ₦5.7 billion when the committee’s recommendations are implemented.
Beyond exposing fraud, the exercise also produced Katsina’s first unified digital database for all LGC and LEA workers — a tool the Governor says will help keep the system clean going forward.
With councils like Kafur, Malumfashi, and Daura struggling to pay inflated wage bills, the Governor said savings from the purge will now be redirected to grassroots development.
“This is how we can have money to work for the general people in our local governments,” Radda declared.
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