The Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, CACOL has described the undying issue of ‘ghost workers’ in the country as an unfortunate trend that has bedeviled the Nigerian Public service sector for long, following the recent discovery of 8,863 cases in Kwara state while also asserting that the fraudulent act is also perpetrated in many other states in Nigeria.
It was revealed recently in media reports that, 8,863 suspected ghost workers on the payroll of both the state and local governments were discovered by the Secretary to the Kwara State Government, Alhaji Isiaka Gold, in an audit carried out in the state.
The Executive Chairman of CACOL Mr. Debo Adeniran, in reacting to the discovery, condemned the phenomenon called ‘ghost workers’ and called on the Kwara State Government to ensure that culprits behind the fraud are all brought to book immediately.
He lauded the Kwara State Government for fishing out 8,863 ghost workers. He said, “according to available information, the discovery will save the State about N437, 500, 513.56 monthly. But merely discovering ‘ghost workers’ is not enough if the ‘unseen’ faces behind the corrupt act are not uncovered. The criminals behind the scenes must be unmasked and made to face the wrath of the law to abate a syndrome that has apparently become ‘institutionalized’ in our country.”
Continuing Mr. Adeniran said, “this thoroughly corrupt act has been happening in the country for too long, we cannot afford to allow it to further endure. If 8,863 jobless graduates of Kwara State had been employed legitimately for the positions occupied ghost workers, unemployment would have been drastically reduced in the State, but the corruption criminals would not allow that to happen.”
He insisted that ‘’the ‘ghost worker’ phenomenon is not self-induced; that powerful forces are behind it, therefore the government at the Federal and state levels should through the relevant agencies; the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission, ICPC, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, the Federal and state Ministries of Finance etc. investigate and expose those ‘behind the scene’ in this infamous ‘ghost worker’ story; prosecute them and ensure that those found wanting are punished.’’
‘’Previously, we had called on the ICPC to scrutinize the Civil Service; a call we are repeating, we know that the ‘ghost worker’ stories that we have listened to for so long did not happen without the involvement of the Civil Service and Civil Servants. The monumental lootings of our treasury could not have happened without the collaborating hands of civil servants, they participate actively in sleaze for their own pecuniary gains! There is no other way to justify the civil servants whom their earnings do not corroborate the wealth which they display with rabid impunity across the country.’’ Mr Adeniran concluded
Wale Salami
Media Coordinator, CACOL
08141121208
November 23, 2016
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