By Abdallah el-Kurebe
Excerpts: Credible government sources privy to the Committee work told Newsdiaryonline that the Committee had uncovered leakages through which government funds were stolen, running to millions of Naira, monthly. “Let me tell you very authoritatively, one of the best things that has happened to this state, is the constitution of this Committee. In a state like Sokoto with lean revenue base, for over N400 million to be discovered as addition to salary bill – but goes to private pockets, is suicidal. This has been going on for years. But you will agree with me that this must be stopped.
‘Ghost’ workers, a term popularly known in Nigeria to describe a situation of ‘non-existing workers’, whose names appear on payrolls of, especially governments, also describes names of persons not eligible to work (like minors or those not legally employed). In spite of their non-existential and non-eligible statuses, their names are fraudulently included in genuine list of names, contained in payment vouchers, by civil servants. The money accrued from the illegality is shared among collaborators.
Newsdiaryonline exclusively examined how some government officials in high places and in collaboration with bank officials ‘steal’ public funds, each month for themselves in Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara states. These, among other states in Nigeria, have reported some discoveries of syndicates that siphon public funds through use of fake names in salary vouchers.
Sokoto
In July 2016 for example, Sokoto state government said it discovered 12,915 ghost workers whose names were added to the payroll of the 23 local government areas of the state. The then Commissioner for Local Governments and Community Development, who is now the Deputy governor of the state, Alhaji Mannir Dan-Iya told news men that: “The ministry, through the Department of Monitoring and other stakeholders, has concluded local government junior staff verification of about 58,143 workers, comprising scheduled and unscheduled staff. About 12,915 members of staff, comprising seat-at-home and ghost workers, were fished out of the local governments’ staff payrolls. The state government has also saved over N319 million from the exercise.” This was for junior workers, alone.
Also in November 2019, the Sokoto State government discovered 8,000 suspected ghost workers and those collecting abnormal salaries under its payroll. Alhaji Abdussamad Dasuki, the Finance Commissioner and Acting Chairman, Sokoto State Steering Committee on Integrated Payroll and Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), told this reporter that “the ghost workers have been given between November 27 and midnight of December 9, 2019 to make themselves available and confess.
“The financial crimes include suspected ghost workers, wrong computation of salaries, and inappropriate and inflated implementation of salary scales of certain cadres of civil servants,” Dasuki said.
Zamfara
In as far back as April, 2012, during Abdulaziz Yari administration, 7,000 ghost workers were uncovered in the payroll of Zamfara state government, through a Workers Verification Committee. This followed Nigeria Labour Congress’ agitation for the implementation of N18,000 minimum wage.
The Chairman of the committee, Ahmed Abubakar had Yari, while submitting its interim report, stated that only 21,067 of the 28,183 workers being paid salaries, were genuinely working for the state government. He said that thousands of non existing workers bloated the state civil service payroll.
Mr Abubakar revealed that only 1,539 workers could be captured during verification exercise at the state Female Education Board where 2,388 workers were on the payroll of the government.
Spokesperson to Governor Bello Muhammad, Zailani Bappa told this reporter that in December 2019, Zamfara state government discovered 5,000 ghost workers in its payroll and suspended five Directors of the Ministry of Finance, for appointment racketeering.
“The 5,000 ghost workers were receiving salary amounting to N216 million, every month, including those to who fake offers of employment were sold. One of the suspended directors, who aided the appointment racketeering, was receiving three times the salary of a medical doctor.”
The commissioner for finance then, Rabiu Garba told this reporter that “those suspended included, Director, Finance Hospital Management Board; Director Salary, State Ministry of Finance; and his deputy including five other officials in the ministry.”
“The public will know the outcome of the investigation; we would name all the officials involved and the banks that are aiding them in committing the fraud. We would submit the banks’ names to the Central Bank of Nigeria for further disciplinary action.”
During the same period, the name of a 119 year old ghost worker was discovered on the payroll of the state government. Though he retired from civil service, he was among 485 workers, who were supposed to be on retirement but were still collecting salaries. “Some directors of finance were involved in the racket of inflating the state’s workers monthly wage bill and pocketing the excess,” Garba said. He revealed that salary scam was more at the state Health Service Management Board (HSMB), where investigations showed that the suspended directors of finance were fraudulently selling out at the cost of N250,000 to innocent job seekers.
He also said 108 civil servants were receiving double salaries from different ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) in the state.
On 13th March, 2020, the state government again uncovered 200 ghost medical doctors on its payroll under the state Hospital Service Management Board (HSMB). “When the present administration came in, we had 287 medical doctors in the government’s payroll purported to be working in various General Hospitals across the state under HSMB. After the investigation, we discovered that only 87 doctors are genuine, all the remaining 200 were non-existent. “Before now, the state government used to pay N389 million as monthly salary to doctors and other healthcare workers under the board,” Garba told this reporter. He however said that with the discovery, the state government would be saving N120 million monthly from the ghost workers under the board.
Ways funds are siphoned in states
The Sokoto state Finance commissioner said aside from siphoning money through ghost, other ways include deliberate wrongful computation of salaries, and inappropriate and inflated implementation of salary scales of certain cadres of civil servants. “The financial crimes include suspected ghost workers, wrong computation of salaries, and inappropriate and inflated implementation of salary scales of certain cadres of civil servants,” Dasuki said.
An Auditor in Sokoto, who wishes to be simply identified as Mallam Iro, in a chat said that there is always connivance among different cadres of officers and even banks. “You see, at the state level, the whole thing does not happen without collaboration between senior administration, finance and other officers, including banks. First, there will be an existence of vacancies, especially of senior officers before this is achieved. If for example, six, seven or more senior officers retire, who are on grade levels 14, 15 or 16 and whose salaries range from N128,000 (for level 14); N150,000 (for level 15) and N170,000 (for level 16). A good number retire each year and the governor will not be informed of their retirement; because that means that their names would be expunged from the payroll of the state.
“So, instead of informing the governor and their names removed from payroll, the senior officers in administration, finance, etc connive to raise new appointment letters for perceived junior staff on grade levels one to six, in the name of replacement (employment of staff on grade levels seven and above is done by the State Civil Service Commission).This is done to cover the total amount of salaries being received by the retiring staff. This means that whoever receives alerts of salaries payable to workers, (i.e. the Governor), will not notice any increase or decline in the figure of salaries. Meanwhile, the appointment letters are shared among those conniving officers, who then claim the salaries each month. No new workers are actually employed.
A retired accountant, who prefers to be called Mallam Muhammad also said in Sokoto that “Where the bank officials come in, is when there is ongoing staff verification and those ‘unemployed’ but ‘payable staff’ cannot be present for it, because they don’t actually exist, first of all, the consultants are induced and offered a larger chunk of the ‘largesse’ in order to cover up the deal.
“If the verification consultants disagree to cooperate for whatever reason (most times they don’t), bank officials are brought in to temporarily deactivate withdrawal alerts, so that when the money is withdrawn, the governor or whoever manages the account, would not see any withdrawal notice,” he said.
Methods in local government councils
Muhammad continued that real time ghost workers are found at the local government councils where every senior civil and public servants are participants. “Since the local government has powers to employ junior workers (Grade levels one to six), they do so the way they want. In this case, what local government officials do is allocate a number of appointment letters to each, depending on seniority. On one part, bearers of the names on the appointment letters could be non-existent but the officers will be claiming the salaries each month. This does not stop until the officer dies. On the other part, names of children, wives, friends, relatives, etc of the officers involved in the ‘deal’, would be on the appointment letters, and subsequently on payrolls, without the bearers’ knowledge and the salaries will be claimed by the officers each month.
“So, in some local governments, chairmen, vice chairmen, secretaries, councillors, directors of finance or treasurers, accountants, directors of personnel, and other senior officers, benefit from up to five or more such salaries,” Muhammad revealed.
In June, 2019, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Zonal Office in charge of Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara states, arrested the Sabon Birni Local Government Education Secretary, Ishaka Abdullahi and his Deputy, Abdullahi Idris as well as the councils cashier and accountant Abdullahi Dadi and Idris Wambai, respectively.
The said officials were alleged to have used the voucher with higher salary bill to claim money from the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) but pay staff using the voucher with lower salary bill.
Abdullahi Lawal, the zonal head told news men that the arrest followed a petition from 114 teaching staff of the local education authority. “Investigations commenced by a team of operatives dispatched, which resulted in the recovery of several documents and arrest of the said officials. It revealed that since 2013, Sabon Birni LGEA have been maintaining a separate payroll of about 208 ghost workers. This was, however, achieved by deducting irregular amount of monies from salaries of the actual staff of the LGEA and using same to pay off the ghost workers. These deductions are done not on the actual pay slip provided by the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), but rather, on a separate pay slip created by the LGEA management,” Lawal said.
Effort to block leakages
In order to block leakages of public funds into private pockets, Sokoto state government carried out a ‘Civil Servants Biometric Data Census’ after discovering salary irregularities, arising from discrepancies of sorts. It then constituted a committee to harmonise as well as normalise salaries of workers of the state. The data census was to produce and maintain a reliable database.
The committee, which was created to oversee the Improved Strategic Salary and Internally Generated Revenue Platforms in the state, also developed “a revised payslip that comprehensively captures the salary items of each employee. This “is an initiative necessitated by the realisation of the need to address discrepancies in the administration of salary in the state,” Dasuki said adding that “that salary figures were at variance with data from agencies, a development that created the need to harmonise the variant figures as well as address the anomaly intentionally created to siphon public funds.”
Credible government sources privy to the Committee work, told Newsdiaryonline that the Committee had uncovered leakages through which government funds were stolen, running to millions of Naira, monthly. “Let me tell you very authoritatively, one of the best things that has happened to this state, is the constitution of this Committee. In a state like Sokoto with lean revenue base, for over N400 million to be discovered as addition to salary bill – but goes to private pockets, is suicidal. This has been going on for years. But you will agree with me that this must be stopped.
Newsdiaryonline gathered from other sources that cases abound where salary, for example, of level 10 officer in one ministry, is different from similar officer from another ministry; cases of undue/illegal promotion of privileged officers are rampant; ghost workers also abound in salary vouchers in many, if not all ministries.
