Edo State government has placed 18 staff of the Health Outcomes and Logistics Group Agency (HOLGA) on compulsory administrative leave following an internal audit that uncovered irregularities described as “ghost files” in payroll and personnel records. The discovery prompted immediate management action as part of a broader drive to clean up public service records and strengthen accountability in state agencies.
An official statement from the Office of the Head of Service said the affected staff have been temporarily relieved of duty pending a full investigation. The audit, which formed part of a routine comprehensive review of human resources and financial files across ministries and agencies, reportedly flagged mismatches between personnel records and actual staff deployment — including duplicate payroll entries and files for individuals who could not be verified at their stated duty posts. State authorities said the move to place the 18 employees on leave is precautionary and aimed at ensuring that investigations proceed without interference.
Edo State officials stressed that the investigation will be transparent and fair: any employee found culpable will face administrative sanctions consistent with civil service rules, while staff exonerated by the probe will be promptly reinstated. The governor’s office noted that the action reflects the administration’s zero-tolerance stance on payroll fraud and “ghost staffing,” practices that erode service delivery and divert scarce resources. Meanwhile, the Permanent Secretary of the relevant ministry announced the formation of a multidisciplinary committee — including internal audit, human resources, finance and anti-corruption representatives — to conclude the review within a specified timeframe and to recommend system-strengthening measures to prevent recurrence.
Civil society groups welcomed the development but urged the state to go further by digitising personnel and payroll systems to remove human discretion from record-keeping and pay processing. Labour and staff unions called for fairness, asking that employees’ rights to due process be respected and that the probe avoid collective punishment. The government responded by assuring unions that the investigation will follow due process and that technological upgrades to the state’s HR and payroll architecture would be fast-tracked to curb future abuses.
