Ghost workers: FG sends suspects' list to EFCC

The Ministry of Finance on Sunday said the list of those suspected to be involved in the manipulation of government payroll and allegedly injected 'ghost' workers had been sent to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for investigation and prosecution.

The development was confirmed by the Media Adviser to the Minister of Finance, Mr. Festus Akanbi, while responding to enquiries from one of our correspondents.

Akanbi stated, 'The ministry has sent the list of those involved in the 'ghost' workers scam to the EFCC and they (EFCC's operatives) are the ones investigating the matter.'

The Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit had, last week, said it found discrepancies on the payroll of the Federal Government's Ministries, Agencies and Departments to the tune of N6.4bn.

The Head of the Continuous Audit Team, Mr. Mohammed Dikwa, had told journalists in Kano on the sidelines of the two-day National Revenue Retreat, organised by the Ministry of Finance, that the amount was the true state of their findings as of June 30, 2016.

President Muhammadu Buhari had set up the Continuous Audit Team to look into the finances of Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies to arrest the menace of 'ghost' workers, over payment of allowances, fraud and embezzlement in then MDAs.

Dikwa had said, 'The Continuous Audit Team plans to conduct regular checks on the control and risk assessment of MDAs. We look at the records that are being kept to ensure transparency and accountability of the financial transactions carried over time.

'In terms of 'ghost' workers, we have found about 43,000 ghost workers so far and as of May 30, we had N4.2bn that is saved on a monthly basis.

'But as of June 30, we were able to make more recoveries of N2.2bn, which has led to an additional savings of N6.4bn monthly.'