The Nasarawa State House of Assembly, has suspended Deputy Minority Leader, Hon Luka Iliya Zhekaba.
His suspension follows alleged involvement in fake employment of 38 secondary school teachers in the state.
Speaker of the House, Ibrahim Balarabe Abdullahi, announced the suspension after the House deliberated on the report of the House Committee on Education on the recruitment of 366 teachers and 38 Fake teachers in the pay roll of the State Civil Service during the House proceedings on Monday.
The speaker had Inaugurated a three man Ad-hoc committee to investigate Hon. Luka Iliya Zhekaba.
The Committee in its report to the House, recommended that “Hon Luka Iliya Zhekaba, Deputy Minority Leader of the House be suspended and an Ad-hoc committee be set up to investigate his alleged involvement in the fake employment of the teachers.”
Abdullahi said that the House was not against the employment of the teachers but due process must be followed for equity and fairness and recruitment of teachers should be a periodic exercise.
The House directed that a Senior Accountant, Bureau for Salaries, Anthony Ladan, who admitted the names of the 38 teachers into the payroll of the State Government without any directive from the Commissioner of Finance, to proceed on compulsory retirements. Also to proceed on compulsory retirement, is Mr Michael Adonye Johnny, a staff of the ministry of Education, who is a syndicate in the employment.
The House further directed Mr John Nuhu, a former staff of the Teachers Service Commission ( TSC) and Ministry of Information, a syndicate of the fake employment, be handed over to the appropriate authority for prosecution.
The House agreed that the Director of the Bureau for salaries, Mr Sulley Daheer and other staff of the Bureau be redeployed to other departments of the state Ministry of Finance.
“A person with ICT knowledge with proven integrity to be deployed to the Bureau for Salaries to take over the salaries of civil servants in the state”, the House further recommended.
The speaker urged the management of the state Teachers Service Commission ( TSC) to sit up its statutory responsibilities in the interest of the education sector.
He also called on the state government to conduct independent investigation into the activities of MDAs to sanitize the system.
Earlier, Hon Daniel Ogazi, the Chairman of the Committee while presenting the report of the committee said that the committee found out that the syndicates collected between N50,000 and N100,000 to issue fake appointment letters to the applicants.
He told the House that the committee has invited the managements of the ministry of Education, Finance, Accountant General, the syndicates, one of the victims, Caroline Barde among others before the committee.
Mr Anthony Ladan, a senior Accountant in the Salaries Bureau, had on Aug. 16, 2021, admitted before the Committee, that he slotted the names of 38 teachers into the payroll of the State Government without any directive from the Commissioner of Finance and Director, Salaries.
