Borno to blacklist banks implicated in ghost-worker scam

State signs pact with Sudan to train 100 medical students

Borno State Government has said it would blacklist banks found to have connived with top government officials in the ghost-worker scam.Governor Kashim Shettima disclosed this at the weekend during an interactive session with journalists over non-payments of salaries.

Shettima said the verification committee has fished out 13, 603 ghost workers in the ongoing biometric data capture exercise. The governor added that N1.6 billion has already been saved as the total wage bill stood at N1.1 billion.

“The full wrath of the law will descend on any commercial bank that connived with civil servants to perpetrate fraud. We are going to delist and blacklist them from government patronage,” said Shettima.

He continued: “A particular bank has however, given us all the necessary support. It is right now conducting an in-house inquiry to determine the officials and others used in the crime.

Meanwhile, the state has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ahfad University of Women, Sudan to train 100 medical students. Secretary to the State Government, Usman Jidda Shuawa disclosed this at the weekend in Maiduguri after signing the agreement with representative of the University, Dr. Abubakar Abdelazim.

Shuwa explained: “You all recall that Governor Kashim Shettima visited the university some three months ago, precisely in June 2014. During the visit, an agreement was reached by the President of the Ahfad University to sponsor 50 Borno State indigenes to undergo MBBS to be paid for by the state government.“We are here this afternoon to formalise this agreement by signing MoU between the Ahfad University and the Borno state government to train 100 female students in MBBS.

“Governor Kashim Shettima is committed to ameliorating the dearth of female medical doctors with the objective of providing them with the best education and create more jobs for the youth.”Consequently, the State Government, he said is also expected to nominate 100 female students for the training programme.

Director of Admissions, Ahfad University of Women, Dr. Abubakar Abdelazim said that he was delighted to participate in the signing of the MOU as a way of showing commitment of the institution in promoting women education; particularly in the medical sector.

Abdelazim said that the partnership programme is a strategic intervention by the state government to address manpower requirement in the medical sector. He maintained that the programme would further cement the cordial relationship between the institution and Borno State Government