Probe into civil servants’ salary fraud abroad still ongoing —Head of Service

The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack, on Monday, disclosed that the Federal Government’s probe into civil servants who are still receiving salaries after relocating abroad is still ongoing.

Walson-Jack made this known on Monday at a programme held in Abuja to celebrate her 100 days in office.

The probe, which was instituted by President Bola Tinubu, aims to identify and punish civil servants who have relocated abroad but are still drawing salaries from the government.

Tinubu had also directed that the supervisors and department heads of the culprits be punished for aiding and abetting the fraud.

Walson-Jack emphasized that the process has not been swept under the carpet, but rather, the momentum has been sustained to ensure that those who left the country in search of greener pastures abroad are no longer benefiting from the system.

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Since the commencement of the probe, Walson-Jack revealed that some of the affected civil servants had rushed to resign, while others returned to the country to report for work.

“You are asking about civil servants who may have japa (relocated abroad). We know that the issue came up, and there were even some verifications done. Since then, some of them quickly came back while some honourably retired,” she explained.

Walson-Jack further stated that the government is still scrutinizing the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) payroll to identify those who are still receiving salaries despite being abroad.

“So, right now, just to sustain the momentum, we are still scrutinising using the IPPIS payroll to know who is here and who is out. And I think that will be a continuous process to ensure that people are not eating their cake and having them by going outside the country and still receiving their salaries,” she said.

The Head of Service expressed her commitment to ensuring that the probe is thorough and that those found guilty are punished accordingly. “So I dare say some progress has been made in this regard, and we will keep on watching out to ensure that it is completely dealt with,” she added.

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