The recent verification of civil servants and retirees in Rivers State has shown a noteworthy decline in the numbers on the state’s payroll. Official data indicates that only 37,703 individuals were confirmed as legitimate employees, down from over 43,000 previously recorded. In terms of pensioners, 208,186 were verified, significantly less than the earlier count of over 25,500. This information was shared by the Sole Administrator of Rivers State, Ibok-Ete Ibas, during a meeting with labor union leaders at the Government House on Friday, where he pointed out the discrepancies found in the verification process. Ibas reported that out of more than 2,600 local government pensioners, only 2,004 were verified, and about 8,000 local government staff were confirmed across seven Local Government Areas (LGAs), including Obio/Akpor, Bonny, Etche, and Degema. He set a deadline of September 4, 2025, for completing the verification of local government staff and promised to allocate sufficient state resources to achieve this goal. Emphasizing his strong stand against corruption, the Sole Administrator mentioned that while efforts to address issues are ongoing, only the arrears for March 2025 have been processed so far due to difficulties linked to the verified records. Additionally, a discrepancy of N117 million was found in the March payment schedule, leading to an official investigation.
