The Special Committee on Judiciary Staff Verification Exercise has discovered serious rots in Kogi State Judiciary, as names of dead staff and retirees are still appearing on the monthly payroll of both judiciary and Judicial Service Commission respectively.
Barrister Ibrahim Alhassan, the Chairman of the Committee, disclosed this on Friday, December 4, in Lokoja, while submitting the report and recommendations to the Chief Judge of Kogi State, Justice Henry Olusiyi.
He blamed the administrative department for improper documentations of staff records as many frauds was revealed.
According to the report, lapses were discovered in the Personnel Department on improper documentation of staff information, as well as job description within the terms of reference which contributed to a lot of administrative lapses in the system.
He lamented that some top officials of Judiciary and Judicial Service Commission (JSC) who had since assumed offices and have taken the oath of office do not have clear records of the employment in the Administrative department.
Alhassan noted that the reports came in two volumes, stressing that aside the exercise that took place at the headquarters, the committee also visited 39 directorates to carry out the verification exercise.
Justice Henry Olusuyi while receiving the report expressed gratitude to the members of the Committee for the thorough job.
He assured Committee that the report and recommendations would be thoroughly perused and carried out to the later, adding that it is very important to up the nominal roll and know the exact monthly wage bill.
The Chief Judge, who expressed dismay over the rot uncovered by the verification committee, said that any society or organisation that failed to enforce and ensure compliance to due process was doomed.
“There is no doubt that a lot has been exposed by this report and, as I said at the inauguration, an organisation that does not have certainty as to its workforce is an organisation that is drifting, a rudderless organisation”, he said.
“By God’s grace, we are going to do a thorough house cleansing. It cannot be business as usual. Judiciary as the third Arm of Government should be an organisation that is known for excellence, must be a model organisation, must be an organisation that can dictate the pace and show examples,”
“And how do we do it if we don’t have procedures that are compliant with due process? Any society, any organisation that has no compliance to due process is an organisation that will soon go into extinction and lose relevance,” Olusiyi added.
He said that there must be strict adherence to due process and orderliness, adding that there was no point having a workforce that the organisation could not keep track of.
“They don’t come to work yet, they receive alerts, some have retired and they’re still receiving alerts, some have died and alert is still being received somewhere for them” he added.