From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
FOLLOWING the introduction of Bank Verification Number (BVN) as a prerequisite for payment of salary in the Ministry of Finance, a lot of unjustified salaries and ghost pensioners in the Pension Transition Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) as well as inexplicable bogus allowances have been unearthed.
Daily Sun gathered that Nellie Mayshak, PTAD director general allegedly received N50 million monthly in salary plus other allowances allegedly not in tandem with civil service rules.
Consequently, Mayshak has been placed on indefinite suspension.
According to the Finance minister’s Special Adviser on Media, Mr Festus Akanbi, “it is normal within civil service procedure to allow the DG to proceed on indefinite suspension pending when the investigation on the matter is concluded.”
PTAD was set up to take care of workers who retired on or before June 30, 2007 under the pay-as-you-go system. Those captured in this system include the police, customs, immigration, civil servants, para-military and other parastatals.
It was established in August 2013 in compliance with the provisions of section 30 sub-section (2) (a) of the Pension Reform Act (PRA) of 2004 (amended in 2014) which stipulated the establishment of an independent pension department for the public service of the federation. Last month, Adeosun vowed to probe 11,000 fresh ghost workers who defrauded the Federal Government of over N2.293 billion through non-existent workers.
Speaking after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja, Adeosun, who did not say when the investigation would end, told newsmen the probe result would be made known to the public.
Also, at the inception of this administration, the minister implemented the BVN in the Integrated Payroll and Personnel System (IPPIS) which reduced the salary bill for February 2016 by N2.293 billion.
The minister noted that when compared with December 2015 at which time the BVN audit process commenced, over 23,846 ghost workers and pensioners were expunged from the system.
Adeosun also said the Federal Government was taking actions to pursue recovery of salary balances in bank accounts as well as pension contributions in respect of the deleted workers.
Mayshak is the pioneer director general of PTAD Prior to her appointment, Nellie was the national programme manager for the Federal Public Administration Reform Programme, a UK Government/ Federal Government of Nigeria collaboration to reform the Public Service of Nigeria. The FEPAR programme worked with leaders of core central FGN institutions to improve core systems and processes for policy, budget and civil service management.
Nellie is an international development expert with over 25 years experience in public sector management, both in Canada and internationally.
Nellie’s particular expertise is in institutional strengthening of government structures and processes and building capacity for effective public policy management, reform management and coordination.
