Thousands of ghost workers and pensioners were uncovered in the recent civil servants and pensioners verification exercise in Rivers State. The development led to a significant reduction in the number of civil servants and retirees on the state’s payroll.
Official figures show that only 37,703 staff were verified as genuine employees, compared to a previous record of over 43,000 civil servants in the state.
Similarly, the verification confirmed 19,186 pensioners against the earlier record of more than 25,500 retirees. 
The Sole Administrator of Rivers State, Ibok-Ete Ibas, who gave the revelation during a meeting with the leadership of labour unions in the state on Friday at the Government House, highlighted disparities uncovered in the verification exercise.
Ibas explained that 2,004 local government pensioners were verified out of more than 2,600, while about 8,000 local government staff were confirmed across seven LGAs, including Obio/Akpor, Bonny, Etche, and Degema.
He gave a deadline of September 4, 2025, for the completion of all local government staff verification exercise, assuring that all necessary state resources would be deployed to meet the target.
The Sole Administrator, restated his zero-tolerance stance on corruption, noting that while efforts are ongoing, only arrears for March 2025 have so far been cleared due to challenges with the verified records.
Ibas further stated that an overpayment of N117 million was discovered in the March schedule.
