N145m scam delays Kogi Poly workers’ July salary

Kogi Government says the discovery of N145 million fraud in the salary voucher of the Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja, is responsible for the delay in the payment of July salary of its workers.
The Director -General, Kogi State Bureau of Information and Grassroots Mobilisation, Alhaji Abdulmalik Abdulkareem, said this in a statement made available to newsmen in Lokoja on Sunday.
The government’s statement is in response to an earlier threat by the institution’s local chapter of the Academic staff Union of Polytechnics to embark on an indefinite strike over non-payment of July salary of its members.
Abdulkareem said: “Kogi State Government affirmed that the discovery of N145 million fraud in the salary vouchers was responsible for the delay in payment of the July salary. This is based on facts obtained from the office of Auditor -General of Kogi State.”
The ASUP had threatened to direct its members to embark on strike if the July salary of its members is not paid latest by September 11.
Andulmalik faulted the position of ASUP and other unions in the polytechnic, saying that the delay in payment of their July salary was self-inflicted.
He alleged that some accounts staff of the polytechnic bloated the salary vouchers to defraud the state government of N145 million.
According to him, the salary is being delayed to give room for a thorough investigation into the alleged fraud.
The director-general said the state government had recovered N145m from over bloated wage bill.
He, however, assured that all staff would start receiving their July salary as from September 11.
Abdulkareem said that government had directed that salary of workers in the salary unit of the polytechnic be put on hold pending the conclusion of investigation.
According to him, investigations showed that staff in charge of salary payment perpetrated the scam by transferring money into accounts of some cooperatives societies and unions.
He said: “Salaries of some staff of the polytechnic were also fraudulently bloated.”
Abdulmalik said that there was no need for ASUP and other unions to go on strike again as government would start paying their July salary by September 11.
He reiterated government’s zero tolerance for corruption, adding that no efforts would be spared to put an end to such fraudulent practices.