UK-based Nigerian’s salary confession spotlights Nigeria’s ongoing battle with ghost workers
In a recent interview, a UK-based Nigerian man revealed that he continues to receive his salary as a Nigerian civil servant two years after relocating to the United Kingdom. The man, who currently works as a taxi driver in the UK, shared his story with the BBC, admitting that he was not worried about losing his Nigerian salary despite his absence from work.
BBC NEWS
If you leave your job, it would seem logical that your salary would stop being paid, but not so for a number of former Nigerian civil servants.
They have managed to be employed elsewhere – sometimes in another country entirely – and yet continue to receive a wage from their former workplace.
News of this has reached the top and last week President Bola Tinubu ordered a crackdown.
“The culprits must be made to refund the money they have fraudulently collected,” he said.
Sabitu Adams, whose name we have changed to protect his identity, has not resigned from his position as a junior official at a government agency and still gets paid each month, despite leaving Nigeria two years ago.
He now works as a taxi driver in the UK, but told the BBC that he was not worried about losing the salary as he sees Mr Tinubu’s comments as an empty threat.
Mr Adams added that the loss of his monthly Nigerian salary of 150,000 naira ($100; £80) would not be a great hardship, as he earns a lot more driving a taxi.
“When I heard about the president’s directive, I smiled because I know I am doing better here – and not worried,” the 36-year-old said.
But why not make it clear to the civil service that he had left?
“To be honest I didn’t resign because I wanted to leave that door open in case I choose to go back to my job after a few years.”
Like Mr Adams, more than 3.6 million Nigerians have relocated to other countries over the last two years, according to official statistics.
Japa: UK-based Nigerian continues receiving salary in Nigeria
PUNCH
A male Nigerian civil servant who left the country for the United Kingdom in 2022 has revealed that he still receives his monthly salary despite not showing up at work.
The 36-year-old UK taxi driver, who will be referred to as Daniel due to the sensitivity of the matter, told the BBC as reported on Sunday that he receives N150,000 monthly from his place of work in Nigeria, all thanks to a mutual understanding with his boss.
Recently, the Federal Government vowed a crackdown on Nigerian government workers who had relocated abroad but still received salaries.
On Saturday, June 22, 2024, President Bola Tinubu, while expressing dismay at the revelations by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation regarding employees who had relocated abroad while drawing salaries without formally resigning, ordered that the “culprits must be made to refund the money they have fraudulently collected.”
Tinubu said, “Their supervisors and department heads must also be punished for aiding and abetting the fraud under their watch,” adding that his administration would ensure “those responsible are held accountable and restitution is made.”
Non-government workers have continued to enjoy free money as they get paid without being enlisted in the nation’s civil service.
In some other cases, people who have either quit their government jobs or relocated overseas still receive the tranche.
However, Daniel, a junior official at a government agency, was unbothered by the President’s directive, citing that what he currently earns in the UK is higher than the salary he gets from the government.
He said, “When I heard about the president’s directive, I smiled because I know I am doing better here – and not worried.”
When asked why he refused to resign from his position after relocating abroad, Daniel said he thought he would probably return after spending some years abroad.
“To be honest, I didn’t resign because I wanted to leave that door open in case I choose to go back to my job after a few years,” he retorted.
