Of ghost workers on government payroll

Claims of the discovery of ghost workers on the government payroll have reached a climax with the submission by the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun that 23,000 phantom workers exist in the civil service. While no one ever doubted that this was happening on account of shoddy book-keeping and corruption in the nation’s civil service, the number reportedly involved and the length of time for which this crime has gone on remains baffling. This is a shame that illustrates the tardiness with which government business is conducted.

The latest finding was made possible by the use of Bank Verification Number (BVN) recently introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in collaboration with the Bankers Committee. It is reassuring that the minister has promised to investigate the ghost workers within 30 days, hand culprits over to relevant agencies of government for prosecution and recover from colluding banks in the scam, the money paid through such banks. This is the least Nigerians can ask for.

However, from the report credited to the minister, there is a mystery which in itself advertises another round of shoddiness: Adeosun’s statements that “we have about 23,000 we need to investigate: those whom either the BVN is linked to multiple payments or the name on the BVN account is not consistent with the name on our payroll”, and “we will try, as much as possible, to conclude that investigation within 30 days so that innocent people do not suffer.” These statements are not as sure-footed as they should be.

And in that situation, it is baffling that a case of mere suspicion yet to be investigated was brought up at such an important exercise as budget defense by the nation’s treasurer and used to rationalise reduction in the payroll budget by N100 billion. Indeed, with all due diligences done, could there not be more than 23,000 ghost workers? It would have been better if the minister had concluded her investigations and confirmed the exact number of ghost workers. Therefore, the ministry should be cautious in its assumptions until investigations throw up the realities of the claim.

On the plan to recover money from banks, this seems to suggest that only the banks were responsible for the scam. The truth is that the ministry’s officials sent list of employees to be paid and the amount covering such payments to those banks with which they may have colluded. Thus, in sharing any arising liability of refunding money, the weight of contribution should be considered and the liability may be shared equally between the ministry and any affected bank. In the unlikely case that no bank is found culpable, the ministry would then seem to be the sole cesspit of the scam. Whatever the case, whoever perpetrated the fraud must be sanctioned through the courts of law.

The civil service must also take full responsibility for any ghost worker on its payroll given its obvious incompetent, ineffective and slow registration of employees in the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS). The registration, in five years, of only 295,000 employees in the system (a monthly average of 4,916) as against the registration of 320,000 employees in three months (a monthly average of 106,666) with the aid of BVN, is a very poor performance. If the ministry had dutifully implemented the employee registration exercise, there would, perhaps, not have been ghost workers or, at least the number would have been insignificant. It is fair to bet that slow implementation of the IPPIS was a form of sabotage to enable perpetrators of the ghost workers fraud continue their criminal act. Now that the Minister of Finance has committed to registering all employees on the IPPIS latest by June this year, that target date must be kept.

This is also an appropriate time to emphasize the need for completion of the National Identity Card Project. If this had been fully implemented, BVN would not have been needed, the noble role it has been credited with in the ghost workers scam notwithstanding. The CBN and the Bankers Committee which initiated BVN have, in this ghost workers revelation, been justified. What should now be done, with regards to the extent banks may be found to have manipulated the system, is to emplace measures that will prevent fraudulent elements, in and outside the system, from compromising the integrity of the BVN initiative.