Fraudulent ghosts

In Nigeria things are somewhat different. Our government continues to be haunted by living ghosts who are not only hale and hearty, but also very much interested the material world! Over the years tens of thousands of imaginary civil servants with forged names have been paid government salary.  This massive payroll fraud has been given […]

In Nigeria things are somewhat different. Our government continues to be haunted by living ghosts who are not only hale and hearty, but also very much interested the material world! Over the years tens of thousands of imaginary civil servants with forged names have been paid government salary.  This massive payroll fraud has been given the quaint name “ghost worker syndrome”.
Ages ago, in April 2001, the then Accountant General of the Federation informed the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriation that there were 40,000 “ghost” workers drawing salary form the Federal Government. In 2003 the Federal Ministry of Defence discovered 24,000 fake employees on its payroll, and Federal and State Government payroll audits discovered thousands of “ghost” workers. The then Minister of State for Finance revealed that government removed 45,000 names from the payroll resulting in an approximate reduction of 100 billion naira in the wage bill. Surprisingly more than ten years later in February 2014 the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation discovered another 46,639 “ghost” workers in the federal civil service, representing 25% of the entire workforce.
At that time 1,367 of the “ghosts” were found in the finance ministry supervised by the Coordinating Minister for the Economy Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala! In the latest disclosures concerning “ghost” workers the Minister claims a new “discovery” has saved government over 160 billion previously paid in salaries and allowances. This chest beating aside the sad truth is that since 2001 when the problem of massive payroll fraud was identified, no effective steps have been taken stem the practice by recovering the monies, and exposing as well as punishing those responsible. Under the Integrated Payroll and Personal Information System (IPPIS), payroll fraud has so far been discovered in 215 Ministries, Departments and Agencies; meanwhile there are over 300 MDA’s left to come under the system. IPPIS was introduced to enhance efficiency in personnel cost, planning and budgeting based on actual verifiable numbers and not estimates.
Two years ago in January 2103 the federal government claimed to be “doing a lot to reduce recurrent expenditure by making salary administration very efficient”. Yet up until today all levels of government experience monumental payroll fraud under the guise of “ghost” workers. In Imo State Governor Rochas Okorochas saved 650 million from “ghost” workers and one billion from “ghost” pensioners. In Plateau State a fake Commissioner was discovered on the payroll! In Zamfara State there was a legendary case of a baby who had been collecting government salary before he was even born! These examples should come as no surprise in a nation where corruption in the civil service is endemic. Through payroll fraud many Permanent Secretaries and Directors have become obscenely wealthy at the nation’s expense. Most living “ghost” workers are found at the local government level where secretariats are abandoned except when salaries are being paid.
The bulk of “ghost” workers at State and Federal Government level aren’t real people at all. They don’t exist, and the money is paid into the accounts of those who created the identities. This recurring problem of payroll fraud cuts to the core of the fight against corruption in the civil service and amongst political stakeholders who are beneficiaries of the system. Their diversion of salaries and pension funds is especially despicable in our current predicament where many living pensioners and workers have to wait for ages before their entitlements are paid. It is difficult to understand how government that owes salaries to real workers, somehow manages to pay “ghosts”! The problem won’t vanish simply as a result of biometric data collection or personnel vetting because such initiatives don’t tackle the root causes.
As long as there is no transparency in the conduct of government finances the situation will not improve. Undoubtedly government’s refusal over the years to take steps to recover the money is seen as an endorsement of corruption which has encouraged others to follow suit. There are those in authority who would try to differentiate between corruption and stealing. However even they don’t dispute that civil servants and political office holders who engage in either of such practices stand in the way of progress. Through their actions they prevent us as a nation from achieving success, advancing our society or reaching our economic targets. The Centre for Social Justice has repeatedly called for the recovery of 118.9 Billion Naira said to have been stolen by payroll fraudsters. They have also called for the prosecution and jailing of the accounting officers who presided over the payment of these salaries to “ghost” workers.
The Coordinating Minister for the Economy claimed there are ongoing “frantic efforts” by those people benefitting from the loopholes to “block the systems initiated by government.” According to Civil service regulations the permanent secretary of the ministry or head of the extra-ministerial department is the chief accounting officer who should be held responsible for any loss incurred by government. The fact is the 118 billion naira didn’t just disappear into thin air. The money was collected and shared.  Since the Ministries are known the culprits should be easily identifiable, and the accounts through which the monies passed easily traceable. The issue of payroll fraud must be dealt for once and for all.