Culling from the Nigerian Punch newspaper of February 17, 2015, Bode Dolu, reported, "FG uncovers 62,892 'ghost' workers, saves N208.7bn." Bode Dolu continued, "This the government said was made possible following the introduction of Government Integrated Financial Management Information System and Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System, new systems of payment recently introduced." How recent was the *recently introduced* payment systems that exposed 62,892 'ghost' workers that saved N208.7bn for Nigeria? Before answering that question, I will like to point out that the news culled by Bode Dolu from the Punch was also reported by the Nigerian Vanguard of 17 February 2015 which reported that Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was asked to speak on a topic, PREVENTING LEAKAGES IN THE NIGERIAN ECONOMY, at the Catholic Caritas Foundation Forum, in Abuja. Vanguard quoted Okonjo-Iweala as having said, "We have been able to weed out about 62, 893 ghost workers till date, saving N208.7 billion and we have not finished in the system. The names of the persons found to be involved in the act had been sent to ICPC for further action." This is an old wine in a new bottle because in 2010, the then Minister of Finance, Olusegun Aganga ordered the biometric audit of staffs in the government Ministries and Department Agencies (MDAs). It was such biometric staff audit which revealed in September 2010 that out of 337, 000 police men on payroll in Nigeria Police Force, 107,000 were ghost police officers. The authentic and verifiable officers were exactly 230, 000. The report revealed that the salary section of the Police, their pay officers and all the accountants in all the states of the federation as well as Bank officials were implicated in the ghost police fraud. By the end of 2012 all the staffs of the MDAs have been biometrically audited. Therefore it is a fraudulent claim to state in February 2015 that money is now being saved from ghost workers that had been discovered between 2010 and 2012.
Giving reason why salaries were not paid in December 2014, Bode Dolu quoted Okonjo-Iweala as having said, "There was a problem. Everybody thought the economy was broke. But what happened was that 14 agencies that were on GFIMIS tried to pay more and utilize more than what was programmed, the system locked them out. And they could not pay one person in their agencies. THE PRESIDENT WAS INITIALLY WORRIED BUT WHEN I NOW TOLD HIM THE REASON, THERE WAS SMILE ON HIS FACE. HE SAID,'SO WE HAVE A SYSTEM THAT CAN DO THAT' AND I SAID YES." Here we are being told that only the 14 Agencies that tried to overpay more than what was programmed for them were locked out of the system and causing them not to be able to pay anyone in their agencies, whereas in December 2014, all the MDAs could not meet salary obligations to their staffs. If Iweala is correctly quoted, then the President must have been a dumb figure head of government that did not know that anti-fraud system had been introduced into the payroll system. The purported conversation between the President and Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala where the former expressed ignorance of IPPIS, according to the above report, must have taken place between Christmas period, December 2014, and January 2015. Yet, on 11 November 2014, while declaring his intention to contest for the Presidency on the platform of PDP in the forthcoming Election, President Jonathan enumerated his achievements to justify his re-election. In item 45 Jonathan said, "THROUGH THE INTEGRATED PAYROLL AND PERSONNEL INFORMATION SYSTEM (IPPIS) WE HAVE WEEDED OUT 56,000 GHOST WORKERS FROM THE FEDERAL CIVIL SERVICE, SAVING 162 BILLION NAIRA." Further in item 46 Jonathan claimed, "I HAVE DIRECTED ICPC TO BRING THE PERPETRATORS OF THIS CRIMINAL ACT TO BOOK." With this information, Okonjo-Iweala must have lied when she portrayed the President as an ignoramus who was not aware of the system to weed out ghost workers in his government. Of course, while Jonathan had saved N162 billion by weeding out 56, 000 ghost workers, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has weeded out 62,892 ghost workers and saving N208.7 billion for Nigeria. As long as no one has been prosecuted for ghost workers' fraud, neither Goodluck nor Ngozi is creditable and we can confidently assert that ghost workers is a continuation of oil subsidy payments by other means.
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2015 13:21:30 +0000
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Fwd: ||NaijaObserver|| FG uncovers 62,892 'ghost' workers, saves N208.7bn
From: toyindanteifa@gmail.com
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
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Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2015 13:21:30 +0000
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Fwd: ||NaijaObserver|| FG uncovers 62,892 'ghost' workers, saves N208.7bn
From: toyindanteifa@gmail.com
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
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From: Alukoro Agbaye lukoroagba@gmail.com [NaijaObserver] <NaijaObserver@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Wed, Feb 18, 2015 at 12:06 PM
Subject: ||NaijaObserver|| FG uncovers 62,892 'ghost' workers, saves N208.7bn
To: abujaNig@yahoogroups.com, africa-oped@yahoogroups.com, AfricanID@yahoogroups.com, AfricanWorldForum@yahoogroups.com, Egbeodua@yahoogroups.com, NaijaBusiness@yahoogroups.com, NaijaObserver@yahoogroups.com, YanArewa@yahoogroups.com
From: Alukoro Agbaye lukoroagba@gmail.com [NaijaObserver] <NaijaObserver@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Wed, Feb 18, 2015 at 12:06 PM
Subject: ||NaijaObserver|| FG uncovers 62,892 'ghost' workers, saves N208.7bn
To: abujaNig@yahoogroups.com, africa-oped@yahoogroups.com, AfricanID@yahoogroups.com, AfricanWorldForum@yahoogroups.com, Egbeodua@yahoogroups.com, NaijaBusiness@yahoogroups.com, NaijaObserver@yahoogroups.com, YanArewa@yahoogroups.com
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