Governor Bello Mohammed Matawalle of Zamfara State has criticized the existence of approximately 169 ghost physicians who are paid monthly salaries and allowances.
The Governor told reporters at his country residence in Maradun town, Maradun Local Government Area of the State, that ghost physicians were causing the delay in payment of health workers’ salaries and allowances.
According to him, his government conducted a series of meetings with the State’s Labour leaders to ferret out phantom physicians and nurses in the health sector.
He stated that his administration had no intention of laying off any legitimate civil servants in the state as a result of the introduction of the N30,000 minimum salary.
Responding to journalists’ inquiries on Friday, the Governor stated that his government and Labour leaders had been holding productivity sessions.
He wants state civil officials to always defend their salary and allowances, he says.
“I was once a civil servant and I know the pains if my salary and allowances were not paid”, he added.
He went on to say that significant sums of money were being given to civil officials in the form of wages and allowances from the State’s meager monthly allotment from the federation account.
The Governor, on the other hand, thanked the state’s Labour leaders for tackling the matter of the N30,000 minimum wage with maturity and professionalism, noting that there has been no feud between the government and organized Labour since he took office in 2019.
