EFCC Uncovers 37,395 Ghost Workers On Federal Civil Service Payroll

The Acting Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Ibrahim Magu, yesterday said the commission had uncovered 37,395 ghost workers on the payroll of the federal civil service.

Magu, spoke in Abuja yesterday during an anti-corruption sensitization programme held at the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing.

“The EFCC has uncovered 37,395 ghost workers in the federal civil service. Our investigations have so far revealed that the federal government has lost close to N1 billion to these ghost workers recently. The figure will definitely increase as we unravel more ghost workers buried deep in the federal civil service payrolls,” he said.

The EFCC chairman said apart from the widespread procurement frauds in the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), the issue of ghost workers was a source of serious concern for the commission.

He noted that the commission had established a procurement fraud unit to handle the increasing number of petitions relating to violations of the public procurement laws, warning civil servants to avoid any acts in breach of public procurement, as violators risked terms of imprisonment as well as dismissal from service.

In his presentation, the Permanent Secretary (Works and Housing), Alhaji Abubakar Magaji, said, MDAs should be in the forefront of compliance to public service laws and regulations as the drivers of government policies.