KWARA State Government says its directive to civil servants to open new salary accounts with commercial banks of their choice is not designed to cripple micro finance banks (MFBs).

The Chief Press Secretary to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, Mr. Rafiu Ajakaye, addressing reporters yesterday in in Ilorin, said that the policy was to fight the menace of ghost workers, which had gulped millions of public funds at the expense of development.

Ajakaye said that the Federal Government had also taken similar steps to clean up its payroll and restore sanity to the system.

“We want to clarify that the decision of the government is not a punitive measure targeted at anyone.

“We also want to clarify that this initiative was long conceived before this administration.

“Perhaps, the difference here is that this administration is mustering the courage to do what is right in full appreciation of the mandate of the people of Kwara State and save scarce public resources.

“The government has actionable intelligence from security agencies that the much-talked about ghost worker syndrome is deeply enabled through transactions involving some of these institutions with the collusion of some unscrupulous government functionaries.”

“This is a cancer that continues to eat into public resources at the expense of development. The government has a duty to end the circus,” he said.

The spokesman said the decision was part of the effort to clean the government’s pay roll, stressing that the move was necessitated by the pressure to meet workers’ demand for minimum wage and other obligations.