Taraba government suspends two officials for alleged job racketeering

The Taraba State Government has suspended two senior civil servants for alleged job racketeering.

The state Head Of the Civil Service (HOS), Paul Tino, disclosed this to journalists in Jalingo, the state capital, on Tuesday.

He said one of the suspended officers is a staff member of the State Civil Service Commission (CSC), while the other is in the office of the state accountant-general.

Mr Tino said Governor Agbu Kefas had directed him and the accountant-general, Gaius Danjumastate’sdit the state’s staff payroll following complaints about ghost workers “in the state.

“The directive given to myself and the state’s accountant-general by the governor was to carry out verification exercises to fish out ghost workers to assist us in getting”g this result,” he stated.

He said a committee that conducted the exercise discovered that the two suspended officers issued fake appointment letters to some graduates under the preceding administration.

Mr Tino said the number of those with fake appointment letters had yet to be ascertained because the investigation was still ongoing.

“While we were carrying out the screening exercise to authenticate genuine civil servants, we discovered that some youth recruited by the previous administration of Governor Darius Ishaku last year were given fake appointment letters.

“When we discovered the fake appointment letters, we withdrew them and set up a committee which later exposed the atrocities the two officers committed. They connived and printed fake appointment letters for many unemployed youth,” Mr Tino said.

He said the unnamed officers would remain on suspension without salaries until the investigation is concluded.

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In 2021, the administration of Mr Ishaku lifted an embargo on employment in the state civil service.

Subsequently, the state CSC directed indigenes to apply by obtaining an online application form for N3,500.

Findings show that during that exercise, the suspended officers allegedly sold employment letters to hundreds of graduates.