President Bola Tinubu has ordered the immediate suspension of an Assistant Director at the Office of the Account General of the Federation (OAGF) as well as other accomplices over allegations bordering on salary padding.
The said Assistant Director charge in charge of staff’ salary was alleged to have connived with some staff to pad up the salaries of unspecified number of lower level staff.
It was gathered that a lot of civil servants across several Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) including the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) and Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) have been suspended for alleged salary padding on the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).
Confirming their suspension, RMAFC Chairman, Mohammed Bello Shehu, disclosed that those identified had been placed on suspension pending when investigations will be completed.
Those affected manipulated the IPPIS system to pad their salaries above their threshold.
They were said to have been exposed after a level 7 officer whose salary should be in the range of N60,000 was paid over N400,000, which was in the range of a salary package of a Director.
The act of salary padding though new among MDAs, the IPPIS office in the OAGF is reportedly notorious for it.
In a statement by the OAGF while reacting to the development said, it was, “in receipt of enquiries over alleged ‘salary padding’ on the IPPIS involving some unspecified MDAs.”
“In the meantime, a staff suspected to be connected with the breach has been suspended to allow for thorough investigation.
According to Shehu“All necessary steps are being taken to strengthen the controls around the IPPIS payment platform and an independent forensic audit of the entire payroll system is underway to ascertain if the reported breach is isolated or widespread.”
He assured that the indicted officials were found culpable of the salary padding allegations, they would be handed over to the appropriate authorities for prosecution.
