Numerous civil servants have been placed on administrative leave from a number of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), including the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) and the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF), for allegedly inflating their salaries on the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).
RMAFC Chairman Mohammed Bello Shehu, who stated those named had been suspended pending an investigation, corroborated the claim.
The impacted employees were discovered to have tricked the IPPIS system to boost their pay above the ceiling.
It was claimed that a staff member conspired with an assistant director at the OAGF who was in charge of staff compensation to raise the pay of an undefined number of lower level employees.
The fraud was uncovered when a level 7 officer, whose pay should have been in the neighborhood of N60,000, was given over N400,000, which was in the ballpark of a Director’s wage package.
A small group of government officials from various MDAs had been engaged in a salary padding scheme for some time, with the IPPIS office at the OAGF serving as its hub.
The OAGF released a statement in response to the development stating that it had “received inquiries” regarding “salary padding” allegations on the IPPIS involving some unnamed MDAs.
To allow for a thorough investigation, a staff member who is suspected of being involved in the breach has been suspended. To determine if the claimed breach is isolated or widespread, Shehu stated that “all necessary steps are being taken to strengthen the controls around the IPPIS payment platform.” She also indicated that a forensic audit of the complete payroll system was being conducted by an outside party.
He declared that if the accused officials were proven guilty of the pay padding charges, they would be turned over to the proper authorities for prosecution.