Date: 2016-03-09

The Kwara State government has directed state and local government workers and pensioners that are yet to provide their Bank Verification Number (BVN) for the ongoing staff verification exercise to do so within seven days or risk nonpayment.

Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed, who gave the directive on Tuesday during a meeting of the Committee on Personnel Database Development, said government has no intention of withholding any worker's salary without justification. He said the affected workers and pensioners will still be credited with their salaries and pensions but will not be able to access the money until they obtain BVN.

Governor Ahmed, who is also chairman of the Committee, explained that the unique bank numbers were necessary for preliminary verification of workers and pensioners on the state and local government councils' payroll, noting that at this stage of the verification those without valid BVN could not yet be designated as ghost workers.

Governor Ahmed said the intention behind the Personnel Database System is to give the government an accurate picture of the state and Local Government Councils' payroll and ensure that only those properly employed receive salaries and pensions.

In his remarks, the Alternate Chairman of the Committee, Alhaji Isiaka Gold disclosed that of the 82, 642 workers so far verified by the committee, only 49, 579 have valid BVN while 124 were discovered to have fake BVN. He said that the first level verification also revealed 324 individuals who were linked to 659 multiple accounts.

Alhaji Gold, who is also the Secretary to the State Government, therefore, urged workers and pensioners that are yet to submit their BVN to do so within 7 days or risk having their payments withheld. He called on workers who were properly recruited by the state and local governments to remain calm, while assuring them that the ongoing verification exercise will not affect their salaries and jobs.