There was a startling revelation yesterday in Awka that no fewer than 59 dead persons, 40 retired staff, including those presently working in two tertiary institutions in Anambra State, as well as people who have relocated abroad, are still earning salaries in the state’s local government system.

Chairman of the Anambra State Local Government Service Commission, LGSC, Vincent Ezeaka, who addressed reporters, said the commission also discovered that 44 people were working with either fake OND, fake HND, fake BSc, fake NECO and fake First School Leaving Certificate.

According to him, 427 persons were also discovered to be on the local government payroll without being staff.

He said that out of the 427 ghost workers uncovered and the 59 staff of the commission who had died long time ago, as well as the 40 others that had retired, and still on the payroll of the commission, 11 others are living abroad whose names are still on the payroll of government years after their relocation.

Ezeaka said the commission hired a retired permanent secretary to head the ongoing verification, adding that the discoveries were made during staff personnel audit which was launched to sanitize the system in the state.

He said some Deputy Directors and local government Treasurers have also been sacked for fake certificates.

The chairman said: “Before the commencement of the verification exercise, we wrote all the 21 local government areas, asking workers to voluntarily resign if they have issues with their certificates. We assured them that they would be granted amnesty, but that if we have to spend time and money to fish them out, we would dismiss them.

“Based on the letter, their union, NULGE begged that they would go round and convince workers to submit themselves provided they would be protected. After some time, on June 20, they brought 40 names of staff and their profiles and pleaded that those staff be demoted, instead of outright sack. We wrote the governor to grant them disciplinary procedure amnesty.