Ghost workers: FG sends suspects list to EFCC

The Ministry of Finance on Sunday said the list of those
suspected to be involved in the manipulation of government payroll
and allegedly injected ‘ghost’ workers had been sent to the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for investigation and
prosecution.

The development was confirmed by the Media Adviser to the
Minister of Finance, Mr. Festus Akanbi, while responding to
enquiries from one of our correspondents.

Akanbi stated, “The ministry has sent the list of those involved
in the ‘ghost’ workers scam to the EFCC and they (EFCC’s
operatives) are the ones investigating the matter.”

Findings revealed that while some of the perpetrators of the
‘ghost’ workers scam were being investigated, others had been
charged to court by the anti-graft agency.

An official in the Ministry of Finance confided in The
PUNCHthat the prosecution of some of those that were charged
to court was being slowed down owing to the fact that the court was
in recess.

The Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit had, last week,
said it found discrepancies on the payroll of the Federal
Government’s Ministries, Agencies and Departments to the tune of
N6.4bn.

The Head of the Continuous Audit Team, Mr. Mohammed Dikwa, had
told journalists in Kano on the sidelines of the two-day National
Revenue Retreat, organised by the Ministry of Finance, that the
amount was the true state of their findings as of June 30,
2016.

President Muhammadu Buhari had set up the Continuous Audit Team
to look into the finances of Federal Ministries, Departments and
Agencies to arrest the menace of ‘ghost’ workers, over payment of
allowances, fraud and embezzlement in then MDAs.

Dikwa had said, “The Continuous Audit Team plans to conduct
regular checks on the control and risk assessment of MDAs. We look
at the records that are being kept to ensure transparency and
accountability of the financial transactions carried over time.

“In terms of ‘ghost’ workers, we have found about 43,000 ghost
workers so far and as of May 30, we had N4.2bn that is saved on a
monthly basis.

“But as of June 30, we were able to make more recoveries of
N2.2bn, which has led to an additional savings of N6.4bn
monthly.”

Recently, the Adamawa State Government said the recent clean-up
of its payroll, involving local government employees in the state,
which uncovered 12,000 ‘ghost’ workers, saved the state government
N500m.

The state Commissioner for Finance, Mahmood Yunusa, who made the
disclosure in Yola, the state capital, stated that the state
government derived the figure from the report submitted by the
committee which carried out the verification.

He said, “According to the report submitted to the state
government by the Staff Verification Committee, it said N500m has
been saved. This is the amount which could have gone into lining
the pockets of ‘ghost’ workers.”

He, however, admitted that the amount was fluid since there
might have been some genuine workers whose names could have been
omitted.

The state government had alleged that the state verification had
uncovered 12,000 ‘ghost’ workers in the state, which had been
denied by some union officials.

Also, a total of 3,916 ‘ghost’ workers were uncovered in Enugu
State.

The discovery followed a staff audit conducted in the 17 local
government areas in the state.

The audit verified the number of workers employed in all the
councils, including teachers.

Presenting the report of a verification panel to Governor
Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, the Speaker, Enugu State House of Assembly,
Edward Ubosi, who headed the committee, said the discovery of the
‘ghost’ workers saved the state N161.4m monthly.

The post Ghost workers: FG sends suspects list to EFCC
appeared first from online sources and was reposted by the community on Welcome to 9jalegal – Nigeria’s Leading Legal
Information and Services Portal.

The Ministry of Finance on Sunday said the list of those
suspected to be involved in the manipulation of government payroll
and allegedly injected ‘ghost’ workers had been sent to the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for investigation and
prosecution.

The development was confirmed by the Media Adviser to the
Minister of Finance, Mr. Festus Akanbi, while responding to
enquiries from one of our correspondents.

Akanbi stated, “The ministry has sent the list of those involved
in the ‘ghost’ workers scam to the EFCC and they (EFCC’s
operatives) are the ones investigating the matter.”

Findings revealed that while some of the perpetrators of the
‘ghost’ workers scam were being investigated, others had been
charged to court by the anti-graft agency.

An official in the Ministry of Finance confided in The
PUNCHthat the prosecution of some of those that were charged
to court was being slowed down owing to the fact that the court was
in recess.

The Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit had, last week,
said it found discrepancies on the payroll of the Federal
Government’s Ministries, Agencies and Departments to the tune of
N6.4bn.

The Head of the Continuous Audit Team, Mr. Mohammed Dikwa, had
told journalists in Kano on the sidelines of the two-day National
Revenue Retreat, organised by the Ministry of Finance, that the
amount was the true state of their findings as of June 30,
2016.

President Muhammadu Buhari had set up the Continuous Audit Team
to look into the finances of Federal Ministries, Departments and
Agencies to arrest the menace of ‘ghost’ workers, over payment of
allowances, fraud and embezzlement in then MDAs.

Dikwa had said, “The Continuous Audit Team plans to conduct
regular checks on the control and risk assessment of MDAs. We look
at the records that are being kept to ensure transparency and
accountability of the financial transactions carried over time.

“In terms of ‘ghost’ workers, we have found about 43,000 ghost
workers so far and as of May 30, we had N4.2bn that is saved on a
monthly basis.

“But as of June 30, we were able to make more recoveries of
N2.2bn, which has led to an additional savings of N6.4bn
monthly.”

Recently, the Adamawa State Government said the recent clean-up
of its payroll, involving local government employees in the state,
which uncovered 12,000 ‘ghost’ workers, saved the state government
N500m.

The state Commissioner for Finance, Mahmood Yunusa, who made the
disclosure in Yola, the state capital, stated that the state
government derived the figure from the report submitted by the
committee which carried out the verification.

He said, “According to the report submitted to the state
government by the Staff Verification Committee, it said N500m has
been saved. This is the amount which could have gone into lining
the pockets of ‘ghost’ workers.”

He, however, admitted that the amount was fluid since there
might have been some genuine workers whose names could have been
omitted.

The state government had alleged that the state verification had
uncovered 12,000 ‘ghost’ workers in the state, which had been
denied by some union officials.

Also, a total of 3,916 ‘ghost’ workers were uncovered in Enugu
State.

The discovery followed a staff audit conducted in the 17 local
government areas in the state.

The audit verified the number of workers employed in all the
councils, including teachers.

Presenting the report of a verification panel to Governor
Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, the Speaker, Enugu State House of Assembly,
Edward Ubosi, who headed the committee, said the discovery of the
‘ghost’ workers saved the state N161.4m monthly.

The post Ghost workers: FG sends suspects list to EFCC
appeared first from online sources and was reposted by the community on Welcome to 9jalegal – Nigeria’s Leading Legal
Information and Services Portal.