More than 1,300 civil servants in Zamfara have defied the recent reverification exercise ordered by Governor Dauda Lawal. Only around 800 workers showed up for the screening, despite the state government’s repeated calls.
Governor Lawal set up the committee after pushback from the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), which argued that several workers were wrongly laid off during the N70,000 minimum wage implementation.
The Head of Service, Yakubu Sani Haidara, told journalists that the turnout was poor.
He said the governor extended the deadline by ten days, ending on Tuesday, the 20th of May, 2025. Still, most workers didn’t show up.
According to Haidara, civil servants who ignored the exercise will now be classified as “ghost workers.”
He also revealed that 209 staff from the Ministry of Education abandoned their duties without any official leave.
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“In cases like that, it’s self-termination,” he said.
But after pressure from key stakeholders, the governor allowed the 209 absentees to return on one condition: they must write letters of apology for documentation.
They have been reinstated, but won’t receive salaries or benefits for the time they were absent.
In the Ministry of Finance, 51 workers also disappeared. So far, 39 are back on the job. The remaining 11 are asking to be reengaged.
Haidara made it clear: the government isn’t out to sack anyone unfairly. But every worker must now prove they deserve their paycheck.