A number of civil workers from several Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) have been placed on administrative leave for their alleged involvement in wage “padding.”
The Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF), and an unknown institute are among the organizations impacted.
According to information obtained, the suspended employees colluded with some OAGF officials to increase their salary by tricking the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).
A probe into compensation padding is currently ongoing for an assistant director (AD) assigned to the RMAFC’s IPPIS unit.
The OAGF staff and the assistant director, the desk officer in charge of staff compensation, are accused of conspiring to raise the pay of an undefined number of lower cadre employees.
“The AD in connivance with some staff members are deep in the salary padding racket. The alarm blew recently when a Level 7 officer, whose salary should be in the range of N60, 000 was paid over N400, 000 – the salary package for a director.
“What happened was that 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.
Following the cold attitude from his colleague, the aggrieved staff raised the alarm and a committee was set up to investigate the matter”.
Reacting to the development, the OAGF in a statement said it is “in receipt of enquiries over alleged “salary padding” on the IPPIS involving some unspecified MDA.
The OAGF 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 incident has since been reported to, and is being investigated by relevant anti-corruption, security and regulatory agencies.
“In the meantime, a staff suspected to be connected with the breach has been suspended to allow for thorough investigation.”
Confirming the development, the RMAFC Chairman, Mohammed Bello Shehu, said the commission has identified some culprits and placed them on suspension pending the investigation of the incidence.
He said some workers at the commission were found to have manipulated the IPPIS system to pad their salaries above what they were supposed to earn.
“If the indicted officials are found culpable of the salary padding allegations, they will be handed over to the appropriate authorities for prosecution,” Bello Shehu said in a chat.
“We will investigate to know how long this has been going on, how much has been illegally acquired and attempts made to recover the excess from those involved”, he said.