Bayelsa govt sanctions indicted pay roll fraudsters

As part of efforts by the Seriake Dickson led-administration to rid Bayelsa State of the monumental loss of billions of naira to pay roll fraud, the state government at the weekend made its first practical move against the syndicate.

Investigation revealed that Governor Dickson has ordered the State Head of Service and his Chief of Staff Chief, Tanford Ongolo, to ensure immediate removal of the names of all those indicted in the pervasive payroll fraud in the state.

The governor was said to have issued the directive during a meeting with top officials of the government and committee members on Friday.

It was reliably gathered that governor issued a stern directive that the salaries of all those indicted in the payroll fraud should be stopped and paid to the Unpaid Salaries Account in the state.

Prior to this, there were widespread insinuations that the Governor lacked the political will to carry out the outcome of the verification exercises conducted in the state.

The source said that Dickson assured the citizens that no innocent person would be affected in the ongoing effort to purge the public service of the corruption that had held down the state for years.

The governor was said to have directed all those affected (whose names had been compiled) to be referred to a judicial Commission of Inquiry, which has been set up to look into their complaint.

Dickson was quoted as having said that Judicial Commission of inquiry was designed to offer the opportunity to affected people who might want to contest the decision of the panel to prove themselves.

It was further leant that a large number of those implicated in the payroll saga came from the eight local government areas of the state.

The governor was quoted as having expressed alarm at the level of vice perpetrated in the councils and its financial implications on the state.

He was said to be irked by the panel’s reports that the state has been losing over N350 million every month as salaries to the fraud over the years.