Job Racketeering: House C’ttee Summons Security, Intelligence Chiefs, Others

Juliet Akoje in Abuja

The Ad-hoc Committee of the House of Representatives investigating employment racketeering and mismanagement of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) by agencies of the government has summoned the Nigerian Army, Navy, Airforce and the Police as well the intelligence agencies, among others, to appear before it today.

Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Yusuf Gagdi, at the hearing of the Committee, yesterday, expressed displeasure over their absence even though they were duly invited.

Gadji, while lamenting the absence of those previously invited said, “Let me say this to all agencies we have invited, I think we need to read their names clearly here. They are the Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited, Nigerian Broadcasting Commission, the Nigerian Communication Commission, the Nigerian Post Services, the Nigerian frequency management Council, Galaxy backbone, National Identity management Commission;

“Nigerian Correctional Service, Nigeria Immigration Service, Fire Service, Nigerian Police Force, Defence Intelligence Agency, State Security Service, national Intelligence Agency, Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, Nigerian Army, Nigerian Airforce, Nigerian Navy must appear tomorrow since they have failed to appear today. This is the ruling of the committee.”

The Accountant General of the Federation during the investigative hearing said her office was working hard to fish out ghost workers, who existed in the system before the introduction of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).

Denying allegations that her office was engaged in the enrolment of ghost workers for personal gains, she said her office was working hard to address problems with the IPPIS.

She further revealed that, “Having realised that this is a system that needs to be reviewed, on my assumption of duty, I met a series of issues around IPPIS and that made me organise stakeholders with all the service providers around the IPPIS, where the service providers came and made presentations, questions were asked.

“The stockholders meeting ran for two weeks where all the service providers were scheduled for each day and came with their technical hands while the technical team of the OAGF were also on the ground where we were discussing a series of issues about the system.”

The Director of IPPIS, Emma Deko, alleged that some universities were sending more names than required to be captured on the system.

“We are all aware of the issue of ASUU. We were told to enrol them and the enrolment did not pass through the normal process because it was an ad hoc thing. It was an emergency. They refused to come on board.

“But when the government persuaded them to come on. We were asked to enroll them without going through the process. So I want to place on record that some of them were given numbers to enroll. To enroll people who were on their payroll prior to that time.”