A payroll verification in Katsina State identified thousands of ghost and unqualified workers, creating Nigeria’s first unified staff database for local councils and education agencies, with reforms forecast to save billions of naira.
Katsina State has concluded a biometric payroll audit that removed 3,488 ghost and unqualified workers across its 34 Local Government Councils and Local Education Authorities. The screening reviewed records for 50,172 employees, ultimately verifying 46,380 staff and uncovering fraudulent practices that included falsified certificates, manipulated birth dates, absenteeism, double salary collection, underage employment, and irregular promotions.
Authorities have already recovered ₦4.6 million from multiple-salary cases, while the audit projects ₦453.3 million in monthly savings once recommendations are fully implemented. Over time, those reforms are expected to generate about ₦5.7 billion in savings.
Governor Dikko Radda received the committee’s report and directed that its recommendations be developed into a White Paper for formal implementation. He emphasized that the effort has produced the state’s first unified digital database of local government and education employees, which he described as a necessary measure to eliminate financial leakages. Local reporting following the release of the audit confirmed both the scale of irregularities and the dismissal of the affected staff from the payroll.
The exercise highlights Nigeria’s growing reliance on biometric systems to protect public resources and improve service delivery. At the national level, authorities have been modernizing the country’s identity infrastructure with measures such as the launch of NINAuth for secure service-to-service verification, and an ongoing effort to incorporate iris biometrics into the National Identification Number (NIN) program overseen by the National Identity Management Commission. These initiatives, aimed at reducing fraud and expanding inclusion, are designed to make eligibility checks more reliable.
Katsina’s payroll cleanup also aligns with larger national programs. The federal government has budgeted for a biometric census planned for 2025, and continues to push toward expanded NIN enrollment targets supported by the World Bank. These initiatives provide a stronger foundation for downstream audits like Katsina’s by ensuring that staff records can be verified against a national database.
Sources: Premium Times Nigeria, Punch Newspapers
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
