http://www.newsweek.com/nigeria-37000-ghost-workers-civil-service-says-anti-corruption-chief-450027


Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency says it has uncovered more than 37,000 ghost workers on the civil service payroll and that the number is still rising.

The acting chairman of Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, said that the thousands of non-existent workers had cost the government close to 1 billion naira ($5 million) so far. “The figure will definitely increase as we unravel more ghost workers buried deep in Federal Civil Service payrolls,” said Magu on Tuesday at an anti-corruption event at a government ministry in the capital Abuja, Nigeria’s Premium Times reported.


President Muhammadu Buhari has launched a crackdown on government corruption and fraud since his inauguration in May 2015. Nigeria’s Finance Ministry said in February that the removal of another 24,000 ghost workers from the state payroll resulted in a monthly saving of 2.29 billion naira ($11.5 million).




Magu lamented the widespread procurement fraud within government ministries and the civil service and warned that violators of Nigeria’s Public Procurement Act could face up to 10 years imprisonment. Magu said that the EFCC had established a specific unit to deal with procurement fraud as the agency had received an increased number of petitions on the matter. “The commission is determined more than ever before to rid all MDAs [ministries, departments and agencies] of all forms of fraudulent activities,” said Magu.

http://www.newsweek.com/nigeria-37000-ghost-workers-civil-service-says-anti-corruption-chief-450027

kudos to the finance gurus who are uncovering the ghost workers and helping Nigeria save money.

A batch of 23000 ghost workers were uncovered earlier this year.

The money saved will help Nigeria but why are the perpetrators not being prosecuted and handed obscenely long jail sentences as a deterrent to others