Rivers State payroll shrinks as verification exercise uncovers thousands of ghost workers, pensioners

The Rivers State Government says its recent verification exercise for civil servants and pensioners has revealed sharp discrepancies in the state’s payroll, cutting down the number of recognized workers and retirees.

According to official figures released, only 37,703 civil servants were confirmed as genuine employees, a significant drop from the earlier record of over 43,000 staff. Likewise, the number of verified pensioners stood at 19,186, compared to a previous record of more than 25,500 retirees.

The findings were disclosed on Friday by the Sole Administrator of Rivers State, Ibok-Ete Ibas, during a meeting with leaders of labour unions at the Government House, Port Harcourt. He said the verification exposed systemic irregularities that had inflated the wage bill for years.

Providing further details, Ibas revealed that: 2,004 local government pensioners were verified out of more than 2,600 previously recorded.

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About 8,000 local government staff were confirmed across seven LGAs, including Obio/Akpor, Bonny, Etche, and Degema.

He announced that the verification of all local government staff must be completed by September 4, 2025, stressing that the government would deploy all necessary resources to meet the deadline.

The Sole Administrator reiterated his administration’s zero-tolerance for corruption, noting that fraudulent entries had cost the state billions over the years.

He disclosed that while only the March 2025 arrears had been cleared so far due to record verification challenges, the process had already uncovered an overpayment of N117 million in the March payroll schedule, prompting an official investigation.

“This government will not condone any form of corruption. We are determined to clean up the system to ensure that only genuine workers and pensioners are paid,” Ibas said.

The development has raised expectations among labour unions and workers that the cleanup exercise will lead to a more sustainable payroll system and free up resources for infrastructural and social development in the state.