Nasarawa to begin audit of local governments’ financial accounts

Giving the disturbing financial position of Local Government Council’s, the Nasarawa State Government says it would soon conduct a forensic audit and verification exercise of all the 13 Local Government Areas of the State.

The State Commissioner for Local Government, Rural Development, and Chieftaincy Affairs, Yusuf Sarki who gave the hint in a chat with newsmen said, the rate at which the deceased persons and retired personnel are been replaced without due process is fast becoming alarming, hence the exercise to sanitize the system.

The commissioner posited that the forensic audit was necessary for a view of the recent inability of the councils to pay their staff salary as well as pensioners.

He maintained that the exercise would fish out ghost workers and roll back the tide of corruption in its local government administration.

“Group of persons is planning to short change the government and pensioners by replacing the dead and retired officers with different people without the approval of the authority in charge of the councils”, he said.

The commissioner explained that the state government or either the ministry was not responsible for the non-payment of local government staff and deduction from the local governments’ fund.

“But that the state government had often time augmented the councils’ allocation in the state”

“Because this data capture screening will not solve the problem, pensioners are dying while others are maneuvering their way to replace them thereby making the wage bill rise.

“Insincerity of the people is responsible for this problem”, Sarki said.