Federal Agencies Inflated Payroll By N41 Billion — ICPC

President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime says it has uncovered fraud
in some government agencies amounting to N41 billion.

The Independent Corrupt Practices Commission’s Chairman, Bolaji
Owasanoye, stated that the commission had recovered N41 billion
from some government agencies and institutions who fraudulently
inflated their workers’ payroll.

Mr Owasanoye disclosed this during a briefing organised by the
Presidential Communication Team (set up to update Nigerians on
President Muhammadu Buhari’s security, economy, and anti-corruption
agenda).

According to him, the Integrated Personnel and Payroll System’s
introduction has helped expose fraudulent practices in public
service.

“Outside falsification of capital importation, the use of tax
havens, the unequal tax reporting regime of the international
community, a whole range of things. Take the extractive industry,
for example, the oil and gas sector – Nigeria loses a lot of money
to bad clauses and contracts that we have foolishly signed over
time,” he revealed.

In a related development, a presidential aide, Lauretta Onochie,
via a series of tweet posts on Monday night, announced that
President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime had initiated a lifestyle
audit.

The country’s anti-graft agencies will now investigate persons
suspected of living above their legitimate income.

“Lifestyle Audit is now legal in Nigeria. Those who flaunt
lifestyles they cannot afford, can now be investigated by any of
the graft agencies to produce evidence of the sources of their
wealth.

“You can now be called upon to explain how you acquired certain
properties,” Ms Onochie tweeted.

In January, Matthew Page, a non-resident scholar at the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace, had urged the UK government to
make tackling illicit financial flows from Nigeria a priority.

According to him, some families in Nigeria have a long tradition
of sending their children to private boarding schools and
universities in the UK.

“These institutions are especially popular destinations for the
offspring of prominent politically exposed persons (PEPs) from the
region,” he noted.

He pointed out that immigration officials, admissions staff, and
UK law enforcement “are not likely to scrutinise the conditions
under which the children of PEPs enrol in British schools,” even
though the PEPs may have opaque asset profiles that in other
circumstances would raise serious financial concerns.

“This relative lack of review has allowed some West African PEPs
to channel unexplained wealth into the UK education sector. It is
not easy to estimate the overall value of this flow, yet it likely
exceeds £30 million annually. Most of these funds emanate from
Nigeria,” Mr Page revealed.

President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime says it has uncovered fraud
in some government agencies amounting to N41 billion.

The Independent Corrupt Practices Commission’s Chairman, Bolaji
Owasanoye, stated that the commission had recovered N41 billion
from some government agencies and institutions who fraudulently
inflated their workers’ payroll.

Mr Owasanoye disclosed this during a briefing organised by the
Presidential Communication Team (set up to update Nigerians on
President Muhammadu Buhari’s security, economy, and anti-corruption
agenda).

According to him, the Integrated Personnel and Payroll System’s
introduction has helped expose fraudulent practices in public
service.

“Outside falsification of capital importation, the use of tax
havens, the unequal tax reporting regime of the international
community, a whole range of things. Take the extractive industry,
for example, the oil and gas sector – Nigeria loses a lot of money
to bad clauses and contracts that we have foolishly signed over
time,” he revealed.

In a related development, a presidential aide, Lauretta Onochie,
via a series of tweet posts on Monday night, announced that
President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime had initiated a lifestyle
audit.

The country’s anti-graft agencies will now investigate persons
suspected of living above their legitimate income.

“Lifestyle Audit is now legal in Nigeria. Those who flaunt
lifestyles they cannot afford, can now be investigated by any of
the graft agencies to produce evidence of the sources of their
wealth.

“You can now be called upon to explain how you acquired certain
properties,” Ms Onochie tweeted.

In January, Matthew Page, a non-resident scholar at the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace, had urged the UK government to
make tackling illicit financial flows from Nigeria a priority.

According to him, some families in Nigeria have a long tradition
of sending their children to private boarding schools and
universities in the UK.

“These institutions are especially popular destinations for the
offspring of prominent politically exposed persons (PEPs) from the
region,” he noted.

He pointed out that immigration officials, admissions staff, and
UK law enforcement “are not likely to scrutinise the conditions
under which the children of PEPs enrol in British schools,” even
though the PEPs may have opaque asset profiles that in other
circumstances would raise serious financial concerns.

“This relative lack of review has allowed some West African PEPs
to channel unexplained wealth into the UK education sector. It is
not easy to estimate the overall value of this flow, yet it likely
exceeds £30 million annually. Most of these funds emanate from
Nigeria,” Mr Page revealed.