Civil servants in Jigawa State have raised concerns about the deadline set by the state government for the completion of the ongoing verification exercise.

The concerns came after the state government announced the deadline for the verification exercise in a statement issued by Magaji Abdullahi, the Public Relations Officer of the Jigawa State Ministry of Finance.

According to the statement, the verification exercise commenced on Monday, November 13th, 2023, and was scheduled to conclude on Saturday, November 18th, 2023. The exercise took place daily from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm at the Ministry of Finance conference hall.

The statement further emphasized that unverified staff members must ensure they participate within the specified period, as there would be no extension granted. It also stated that any staff member who fails to be verified would be considered a ghost worker.

In response to the announcement, Mallam Auwalu, a classroom teacher, expressed the need for the state government to extend the verification deadline. He highlighted that a significant number of classroom teachers, approximately 70%, have not been verified.

Auwalu suggested that Jigawa State schools should be temporarily closed for one week to allow teachers the opportunity to travel to Dutse for verification. He believed that this measure would prevent teachers from being categorized as ghost workers.

Another civil servant, Ahmad Ilallah, noted that the deadline given by the Ministry of Finance has sparked controversy among defaulters who missed the verification exercise. He pointed out various irregularities that occurred during the exercise and mentioned that many civil servants have yet to undergo verification.

Ilallah expressed dissatisfaction with the company responsible for carrying out the exercise, as they failed to meet civil servants at their respective workplaces as initially planned. He stressed the importance of the verification process being completed accurately and urged the company to revisit its work.

In a related development, it was reported by Vistanaij Media that a verification official was arrested by the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) over allegations of extorting money from civil servants seeking to undergo verification.