Identified as Daniel for privacy reasons, he now works as a taxi driver in the UK. According to a BBC report on Sunday, Daniel receives a monthly salary of N150,000 from his Nigerian job, thanks to an understanding with his boss.
This revelation comes amid a recent crackdown by the Nigerian Federal Government on government employees who have relocated abroad but continue to draw salaries. On June 22, 2024, President Bola Tinubu expressed his dismay over civil servants drawing salaries without formally resigning.
He ordered that these employees must refund the money they have fraudulently collected and that their supervisors and department heads, who aided the fraud, must also be punished. Tinubu emphasized that his administration would ensure accountability and restitution.
Despite these directives, non-government workers and some former civil servants continue to receive payments without being formally enlisted or resigning from their positions.
Daniel, a junior official at a government agency, remains unfazed by the President’s directive. He noted that his current earnings in the UK are higher than his Nigerian salary, making the directive inconsequential to him.
Daniel explained that he did not resign because he wanted to keep the option open to return to his job after spending some years abroad. He admitted, “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.”
Daniel is not alone; he is among several Nigerians who have relocated abroad but still receive their monthly salaries from the Federal Government.
In June 2022, Dr. Dasuki Arabi, the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms, revealed that the Federal Government’s Integration Personnel and Payroll Information System had identified and removed about 70,000 ghost workers from the civil service.
This initiative has saved the government at least N220 billion, and N10 trillion through the Treasury Single Account since it was fully implemented by former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
Daniel continues to receive his salary despite not working for the past two years, attributing this to a favorable understanding with his boss, who is a relative.
Unlike typical ghost worker scenarios where salaries are shared between the worker and their superior, Daniel’s situation involves a direct agreement with his boss to let him leave without formally resigning.
