- It’s high time government strengthened IPPIS and other anti-fraud mechanisms in the system
Ghost workers we used to know. Now, it’s salary padding. This is an improvement in reverse on the ghost workers syndrome. While ghost workers is all about non-existent workers being paid salaries, salary padding is about paying some individuals over and above their legitimate salaries. The two are perpetrated by civil servants. But, irrespective of their nomenclatures, the implication of both, like other fraudulent activities against the state or the people largely is that governments cannot deliver on democracy dividend promised the people.
This is why we should be concerned about the reported incident of salary padding in some ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs). Those suspected of involvement in the salary padding have faced the first line of punishment for their alleged roles in the incidents: they have been suspended. They are from the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF), and an undisclosed institute.
According to reports, the people suspended allegedly connived with some officials in the OAGF to pad their salaries by manipulating the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS). For example, an assistant director (AD) who is a desk officer in charge of staff salaries was alleged to have connived with others to hike the salary of a Level 7 officer from about N60,000 to N400,000, which is the package for directors. A whistle-blower said “What happened was, another colleague on same salary scale saw the pay slip of a female colleague with a net pay of over N400,000. Surprised, he tried to get details of the excess payment but was rebuffed.” This made the aggrieved member of the staff to raise the alarm.
The OAGF has reportedly acknowledged receipt of allegations of salary padding even though it added that, for now, these were in the realm of speculation or allegations. It noted that “there is no evidence of “salary padding” before the OAGF at this time; however, the office is aware of reported breach of the IPPIS third party payment protocol at an Institute outside Abuja”.
The RMAFC chairman, Mohammed Bello Shehu, on his part reportedly confirmed that the commission has identified some culprits and placed them on suspension. While the OAGF said that the matter has been reported to the appropriate authorities for investigation and possible prosecution, the RMAFC boss promised to do likewise once the internal investigations are concluded.
IPPIS is a department within the OAGF. It was introduced in 2007 to manage federal staff records, ensure timely and accurate payment of salaries and wages to them, deduct taxes and other third party dues, remit payroll deductions to third parties, etc. Those who conceived of the idea must have thought they had found an appropriate answer to the kind of fraud now being allegedly perpetrated, despite their innovation.
But trust the ubiquitous ‘Nigerian factor’ that has always galvanised some of our civil servants to take advantage of the loopholes in any arrangement designed to curb their propensity to commit fraud; they are ever ready to exploit such loopholes.
It is unfortunate that some people that are employed and paid from public coffers would not even pity the country that is in dire need of cash and is already neck deep in debts. The Federal Government has lost billions to ghost workers. Indeed, in 2018 alone, about 50,000 ghost workers were removed from its payroll, according to the secretary/director of the Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit (PICA), Dr Mohammed Dikwa.
The OAGF and RMAFC, as well as the unidentified institute that have been fingered in the instant cases should be thoroughly investigated with a view to ascertaining how widespread the frauds are and for how long they have been going on in those places, etc. As a matter of fact, it won’t be a bad idea to extend the investigation beyond the MDAs under consideration.
While we agree that no system is fool-proof, it is important that anti-corruption mechanisms like IPPIS must be reviewed and strengthened periodically to ensure that the smart Alecs in the system do not penetrate them with ease, and even where they do, it won’t take time for them to be detected and promptly arrested.
If there is a need to set up special courts to handle cases of corruption, the government should not hesitate to do so. At the rate the country is hemorrhaging from all fronts, it is only a matter of time for corruption to kill it. As a matter of fact, that it has not bled to death through corruption is surprising.