The Stop Impunity Nigeria Campaign (SIN) through the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), has identified the National Planning Commission (NPC), the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget Office of the Federation as government agencies with the highest number of ghost workers.
SIN and CSJ has therefore asked that the relevant authorities should fish out the culprits and prosecute them appropriately as a way of fighting impunity in Nigeria.
Documents obtained by Blueprint from CSJ yesterday in Abuja shows the highlights of the MDAs that recorded a high number of ghost workers as “National Planning Commission (74.90%), Federal Ministry of Finance (68.35%), Budget Office of the Federation (77.33%), Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (74.68%), Ministry of Niger Delta (64.87%). Others are Public Service Institute (66.67%), Federal Ministry of Information (57.15%) and the Federal Ministry of Works (51.67%).”
It will be recalled that the federal government through the coordinating minister for the economy and the minister of finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, announced in mid-2013 that FGN saved N118.9 billion and 46, 639 ghost workers were weeded out through the implementation of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) in 215 Ministries, Departments and Agencies of Government (MDAs). However, 321 MDAs are still outstanding and have not become part of the IPPIS.
SIN therefore calls for the recovery of the N118.9 billion, the prosecution of the accounting and other responsible officers and the full extension of the IPPIS to all MDAs, wondering why no steps have been taken since 2013 to recover the N118.9 billion.
Lead director of CSJ,Eze Onyekpere told our reporter that the Stop Impunity Nigeria Campaign (SIN) through the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) filed a freedom of information request to the minister asking for the details of the Accounting Officers (as defined in the Financial Regulations) and other responsible officers who presided over the N118.9b loss to the treasury, but that no response was given.
