The Niger State Government has raised concerns about fraudulent activities where some individuals have forged political appointment letters, leading to unauthorized payments to people who are not genuine appointees.
This development has caused a delay in the payment of September salaries to legitimate government appointees.
To address the situation, the state’s Commissioner of Information and Strategy, Binta Mamman, announced a compulsory screening exercise for all political appointees.
This process aims to verify the authenticity of their appointments and ensure that only those who pass the screening will receive their salaries.
Mamman stated that the state originally appointed about 4,000 political officials across various positions, including Commissioners, Special Advisers, and others.
However, some individuals have illegally obtained forged letters, burdening the government with an inflated salary portfolio of over N600 million.
The screening exercise is intended to reduce these unnecessary expenses by identifying and removing those with forged appointments.
Genuine appointees are expected to cooperate fully with the process to ensure its success and the eventual payment of their salaries.
