From Payroll Chaos to Workforce Clarity: Gombe State’s Civil Service Rewrites Its Story with HCM

With a workforce spread across ministries, departments, and agencies in all 11 Local Government Areas, Gombe State faced a massive human resource challenge: ghost workers, absenteeism, poor workforce data, and rising salary costs consuming over half of its federal allocation. Today, Gombe has turned this around, thanks to HCM’s innovative biometric workforce management solutions.

Dr. Abubakar Hassan | Director General, Gombe State Bureau of Public Service Reforms

“With HCM’s biometric solutions, we’ve eliminated ghost workers, increased staff presence at work, and improved service delivery, especially in the health sector. The savings and transparency have changed everything.”

The Challenge

Prior to 2019, Gombe State relied on outdated, manual processes to manage its workforce. Records were paper-based, attendance was rarely tracked, and payroll was plagued with inefficiencies. The government lacked real-time data on staff headcount, deployment, and productivity—especially in the critical healthcare and education sector.

“We were paying people who were absent, retired, or even deceased. Absenteeism was common, and the lack of accountability meant communities were underserved,” explains Dr. Abubakar Musa, Executive Secretary, GoHealth. “We needed a digital solution that could help us clean the system and deliver better public services.”

The Solution

Gombe State partnered with HCM to implement a biometric-based Human Resource Management System across all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), with special focus on healthcare and education.

HCM deployed a suite of custom-built, locally developed HR tech tools across all state MDAs:

• TimeRite: software that racks real-time biometric attendance and leave approvals
• PayRite: Integrates attendance data to ensure accurate, transparent salary payments
• CureRite: Digitizes patient records and health worker activity in PHCs, supporting better service delivery

HCM also facilitated statewide staff verification, trained government teams, and established robust governance structures. Daily biometric sign-ins became mandatory, and only verified attendance triggered payroll processing. 

The Results:  A Government Workforce Transformed

• Eliminated Ghost Workers and Enhance Financial Efficiency
  

  Over 400 ghost workers were removed, saving millions in wage costs and allowing funds to be redirected into community services.

• Improved Service Delivery
  

  Civil servants absenteeism dropped significantly. Service availability rose, leading to measurable improvements especially in health indicators (as shown in the 2023 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey).

• Workforce Visibility & Accountability
  

  Accurate Statistics of Civil Servants. Real-time data allowed the state to track staff presence, manage leave, and plan better deployments, especially in rural areas.

• Faster Salary and Pension Processing

The system streamlined salary payments and enabled automatic migration from active employment to pension status, reducing delays and improving trust in government systems.

• Accurate Workforce Data:

The biometric system created a centralized, digital database of civil servants, enabling real-time insights and strategic planning for HR managers and government decision-makers.

• Recognition & Expansion
  

  Gombe was named “Most Innovative State in Healthcare” and secured a $4 million grant from the Gates Foundation. The success of this program has drawn interest from other Nigerian states who have shown interest to learn from Gombe’s model.

• Sustainable Change
  

  Biometric attendance is now institutionalized in Gombe’s civil service rules, with oversight from permanent committees and active labor union participation.

Ahmed Kasim Abdullahi | Head of Service, Gombe State

“This isn’t just about technology—it’s about changing how we serve our people. HCM has helped us lay the foundation for a truly modern civil service.” “We now have accurate workforce data, and know who’s at work, where, and when. More importantly, the people of Gombe now receive better public services because their civil servants are present and accountable.”

Dr Ismail Jibrin | CEO, HCM

“This program started as a cost-saving measure but quickly became the foundation for transforming public sector service delivery. We’re proud to have partnered with Gombe State to make this vision a reality.”

What’s Next

HCM with funding from Gate Foundation is now piloting workforce productivity tracking, and analyzing healthcare worker performance and patient wait times. The aim: build a smarter, more efficient public workforce and improve outcomes where they matter most.

Why HCM

HCM’s locally-built solutions are uniquely tailored to the realities of public sector HR in Nigeria. From design to deployment, HCM offers:

• End-to-end support
• Deep public sector expertise
• Indigenous innovation at scale
• Strategic insights

About the Client

Client: Gombe State Government, Nigeria
Sector: Public Sector | Human Capital Management
Population: ~3.9 million
Focus Area: Health and Civil Service Reform
Implementation Timeline: 2019 – Present
Solutions Used: TimeRite, PayRite, CureRite