‘I saw hell in the hands of corrupt civil, public servants’, worker who got automatic job under Buhari speaks

A worker who got an automatic job under ex-President Muhammadu Buhari has narrated his experience with public and civil servants. The individual, who spoke anonymously for fear of being victimized, described the civil/public service as a cesspit of corruption. He spoke amid the scandal rocking the Federal Character Commission (FCC) and its chairperson, Muheeba Dankaka. […]

A worker who got an automatic job under ex-President Muhammadu Buhari has narrated his experience with public and civil servants.

The individual, who spoke anonymously for fear of being victimized, described the civil/public service as a cesspit of corruption.

He spoke amid the scandal rocking the Federal Character Commission (FCC) and its chairperson, Muheeba Dankaka.

Testifying before the House of Reps panel probing job racketeering and abuse of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) by ministries, departments and agencies, Haruna Kolo, a desk officer at FCC, confessed to have received millions of naira from job-seekers on behalf of the chairperson.

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“Some paid N1 million others N1.5 million all to my personal account, my Eco bank account. She asked me to give cash to her which I did through POS so there is no evidence of transfer or anything,” Kolo had said.

In an interview with our correspondent, the civil servant spoke about his experience after being appointed by the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC) in 2021.

According to him, his batch of employment was posted to different Federal Ministries by the FCSC and they experienced systematic delays in getting documents and payroll between six months and three years.

“In my ministry, the desk officer in the human resource department failed to process our files for posting to departments or divisions in the ministry. For six months, the files sat on her desk until they begged and appealed to her with ten thousand naira.

“We experienced the same delay after documentation and posting in the ministry. It took another 8 months to get our names processed and sent to the Head of Civil Service for documentation and capturing into the IPPIS platform,” he said.

Continuing, he said the delays in the Head of Civil Service took another eight months before their IPPIS details were forwarded to the Office of Accountant General of the Federation for payrolling.

He said it took over 24 months before he received his first salary as a Federal Civil Servant after relocating his family and assuming his duty post in Abuja from 2021.

Lamenting further, he said the payment of his two-year salary arrears had become another point for extortion.

“The payment of my two- year salary arrears has now become another point for extortion by other civil servants. After I was successfully payrolled and received my first salary, I promptly applied for my salary arrears.

“The desk officer in the finance department of my ministry outrightly demanded fifty thousand naira for the processing or I should wait indefinitely before any hope of receiving my salary arrears or any outstanding allowances such as relocation and first 28 days allowances can be paid,” he said.

When contacted, Mallam Ahmed Mohammed, spokesperson to the Head of Civil Service of The Federation, requested that a text be sent to him, but he was yet to respond to the message as of the time of filing this report.