The Cross River State Government has dismissed allegations that teachers are being paid half salaries, insisting that recent complaints stem from an ongoing payroll verification exercise aimed at eliminating ghost workers and sanitizing the local government wage system.
Speaking during an interactive session with labour leaders and journalists in Calabar, the Commissioner for Local Government Affairs, Chief Victor-Felix Idem, said investigations uncovered widespread irregularities, including invalid Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs), duplicated records and cases where a single BVN was allegedly linked to multiple salary payments.
Idem disclosed that more than 2,000 questionable records were identified across various sectors, with the highest number traced to the payroll under the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB). According to him, the verification exercise exposed numerous cases of invalid and duplicated BVNs, raising concerns about the integrity of payroll records within the basic education system.
“We have discovered over 2,000 invalid and questionable records in the payroll system. In some cases, one BVN was being used to collect salaries meant for several individuals. We cannot allow such practices to continue if we truly want to protect public funds and ensure genuine workers are paid,” the commissioner said.
Idem dismissed claims that workers were being paid half salaries, stressing that the Ministry of Local Government Affairs does not directly handle salary payments. “This ministry does not pay salaries. We only upload the payroll. The local government councils are responsible for salary payments. Anybody alleging half-salary payments should provide names, payslips and evidence so that we can investigate the matter,” he stated.
He said workers affected by the verification exercise would be restored to the payroll once they obtained and submitted authentic BVNs directly from their banks. “If any genuine worker has been affected, let them obtain their BVN directly from the bank and submit it through the proper channels. Once the information is verified, such workers will be returned to the payroll and paid accordingly.”
The commissioner further revealed that labour leaders were invited to scrutinize the verification records and were presented with evidence of irregular payroll entries. “We asked them to go through the documents and point out any inaccuracies. What we presented are facts. The government is not targeting anybody; we are simply sanitizing the system so that genuine workers can benefit from available resources,” he added.
Responding, the Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Cross River State Branch, Comrade Greg Olayi, said the union's actions were motivated by concerns over the welfare of teachers whose salaries had been delayed or suspended since the verification exercise began.
Olayi explained that the union had consistently engaged government agencies and encouraged affected teachers to submit payslips, BVN details and other relevant documents. While supporting efforts to sanitize the payroll system, he maintained that some teachers who complied with the verification requirements were still experiencing difficulties in accessing their salaries.
He also raised concerns over delays and inconsistencies in the implementation of teachers' promotions, urging government to review outstanding promotion records and ensure that genuine workers were not unfairly affected by the exercise.
Also speaking, the President of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Cross River State Chapter, Comrade Leko Otabe, expressed support for the payroll sanitization exercise, describing it as necessary to eliminate unauthorized vendors and other irregularities that had contributed to salary administration challenges. He, however, called for stronger collaboration between government and labour unions to improve communication and resolve payroll-related disputes more effectively.
On the issue of promotions, the Auditor-General for Local Government, Cross River State, Elder Bassey Abam Eko, explained that the temporary suspension of some promotion implementations was intended to allow for a comprehensive review of records and prevent possible irregularities. He said his office requested detailed documentation on implemented and outstanding promotions to determine their financial implications and ensure that all adjustments were based on verifiable records.
By Kingsley Agim and Mary Okon
