‘Ghost’ workers syndicates deserve jail

GLEEFULLY, the Federal Government declared last week that it had weeded out 60,000 “ghost” workers and pensioners from its payroll. The clean-up, which involved biometric data capturing of workers through the use of Integrated Payroll and Personal Information System, was initiated way back in 2010. As a result, the government says about N160 billion is now being saved annually. This is not enough. The payroll fraudsters should be made to learn their lesson in jail.

 The Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who announced the latest figure last week at a press briefing, added that the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission had been asked to investigate and prosecute suspected public officials behind the scam. This action is coming very late; and it is symptomatic of government’s willy-nilly approach to fighting corruption, which is endemic in our system.

Before now, some ministers had regaled the public with figures of “ghost” workers, identified through the IPPIS. When the figure was 45,000, the then Minister of State for Finance, Yerima Ngama, said so, after the issue had been discussed at a Federal Executive Council meeting in 2012.

The said “ghost” workers were fished out from 215 Ministries, Departments and Agencies, after a staff audit that involved 153,019 workers, for which a total of N100 billion was reportedly saved.  Ngama had said, “We have 321 MDAs that we have not covered and when we cover this, we may actually discover more and reduce the total payroll cost to the country,”

Now, Okonjo-Iweala’s latest disclosure suggests that the purge is over. She said, “We have handed over the matter to the ICPC to investigate those that are culpable and prosecute them. We are ready to give them the information that we have.”

Yes, we believe that government possesses a welter of evidence to nab the masterminds of this financial crime. “Ghost” workers are nothing other than fictitious names on the payroll, criminally approved by relevant authorities in the salaries and wages departments; while directors and permanent secretaries – the top brass of the fraud syndicates – look the other way.

In the Police Force where the IPPIS was first introduced in 2010, it led to the discovery of 20,000 fake personnel and N6 billion already swindled.  A former Inspector-General of Police, Hafiz Ringim, had lamented that “police paymasters, officers in charge of Mechanised Salary Section, accountants as well as Divisional Police Officers have been named in the conspiracy.”

The Minister of Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, in July 2011, flaunted a similar picture, stressing, “The nominal payroll of the Federal Government was supposed to be 112,000 employees. Based on what we did through the IPPIS, we were able to remove 43,000 from the payroll.” The National Identity Card Management Commission had discovered 4,800 “ghost” workers out of a workforce of 10,300 the same year.

The finance minister is right to say that the ministry is not a prosecuting agency. Given the ICPC’s record in handling corruption cases, which bulks very little, we are hoping against hope that the anti-graft agency will do a good job of this assignment. But the government can do more than just transferring the cases to the ICPC. Since the money creamed off by the racketeers is public fund, it is critical that the level of involvement of each MDA affected be made public. The rot permeated the system because of lack of devotion to accountability and transparency.

Nothing, therefore, will placate Nigerians more than bringing the permanent secretaries and directors of the MDAs affected in this bizarre saga to account.  Payroll preparations in both public and private concerns are duties scrupulously undertaken based on staff list from sectional heads, scrutinised by paymasters and endorsed by superior officers. This is why some people must be held to account.

From all indications, a well-organised syndicate is behind the scam. Nigerians deserve access to the information discovered so far, which the minister said would be transferred to the ICPC. Because the centre is trifling with public service corruption, the criminality is fast spreading to states. Not too long ago, Rivers State reportedly recorded 8,000 “ghost” workers, Delta State, 7,000; while Kebbi State had 9, 300 cases, just to mention but a few. In Bayelsa State, the reduction of the monthly wage bill of N6 billion to about N3.5 billion was one of Governor Seriake Dickson’s first tasks in office. To further plug the loopholes, the government ensured that the Bayelsa State Salary Fraud and Related Offences 2012 law was promulgated.

Do we really need to pat the finance minister on the back? Public sector corruption stinks to high heavens and the Jonathan administration is not even scratching the surface.  Solomon Olamilekan, Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts, once said corruption in the civil service was unequalled. In 2011, Transparency International had said that Nigerian civil servants alone took bribes worth over N450 billion ($3 billion) the previous year. The TI report, Bribe Payers Index, states, “Corrupt civil servants in oil-rich Nigeria pocketed some $3.2 billion in bribes in the 2010/11 financial year alone.” The 2013 Global Corruption Barometer also rated public officials/civil servants as the third most corrupt in Nigeria, coming after the police and political parties.

The finance ministry needs to be more vigilant and innovative. It is said that anyone can steal at any time. But the key is catching the thief and minimising the risk. The best way to do so is to reconcile your payroll at least every quarter with someone other than the person who runs your payroll.

Evidently, the federal 60,000 “ghost” workers case is indicative of the fact that the civil service is in dire need of reforms. Indeed, a strong political will is required to get it done.