Gombe State saves over N57 million as a result of its biometric staff attendance program

The Gombe State Government in Northern Nigeria claims to have saved 57.68 million Naira from civil servant suspensions in September by implementing the State Integrated Payroll Payment Gateway and Human Resource Management Information System Programme.

In a press conference in Gombe in September 2021, the Commissioner of Finance and Economic Development, Mr. Muhammad Magaji, stated that the total number of staff suspended and those to be investigated was 901, with salaries totaling 77 million 340 thousand 484 naira 19 kobo.

He stated that 170 of them, with salaries of 19.66 million Naira, would be investigated, but that their salaries for September would be paid to them.

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According to him, civil servants who had previously been suspended but had presented their complaints and proof that they had been wrongfully suspended had their issues resolved and reabsorbed into the system.

According to the Gombe State Commissioner of Finance, the government has completed biometric enrolment in ten of the state’s eleven local government areas, with Funakaye Local Government Staff now being enrolled.

He stated that after the Funakaye enrolment was completed, the government would hold a mop-up enrolment to allow those who had not yet enrolled to do so; otherwise, enrolment would be closed and those who had not yet enrolled would have to wait until the Gombe State Civil Service decided to hire new staff.

Meanwhile, the Head of the Gombe State Civil Service, Mr Bappayo Yahaya, has advised civil servants to adhere to the system’s set guidelines by reporting on duty on time and closing at the specified time to avoid being negatively affected by the government’s strict measures.

Mr. Bappayo stated that the Biometric Attendance System was here to stay because a team from the company in charge of the supply and installation of the biometric machines was in the process of checking the condition of the machines and, if necessary, taking note of faults and improving on them for improved service delivery.

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It will be remembered that the Gombe State Government implemented the Biometric Attendance Programme in order to checkmate the excesses of the state’s civil servants, some of whom enjoy abandoning their duties posts or not even appearing at all, but always collecting salaries at the end of the month.

The initiative, according to the government, will ensure that governments at both the state and local levels take stock of civil servants through the installed machines, which register staff daily, verify their fingerprints and facial descriptions, and finally authenticate their attendance.

According to the government, the goal of the biometric attendance program is to reduce and eventually eliminate payroll fraud.