How Civil Servant Sneaked Brother’s Name Into Govt Payroll, Received Salary For 11 Years

• Discovery was made after accused could not pass verification.
• Police say the culprits will be charged to court

A senior civil servant in the Niger state ministry of health, Tanimu Muhammad, has been apprehended over payroll fraud.

Muhammad had deviously smuggled his brother’s name, Tanimu Ndanusa, into the state government payroll  and had been collecting the salaries and entitlements on his behalf.

Ndanusa has been on the payroll of the state  since 2009, collecting his entitlements with dedici and deftness.

Interestingly, during the eleven years of impropriety, Ndanusa was a able to move up the civil service ladder without writing promotion exams as he moved from level 10 to 14.

The only problem, though, is that he is full-time okada rider who can barely speak English.

.End of the road

On Tuesday, Mohammed asked his brother to present himself for a physical verification exercise for civil servants in the state.

Also Read: Payroll Fraud: LAWMA Contractors Divert 80% Of Sweepers’ Salary, Lagos Govt Alleges

When Tanimu could neither tender his credentials nor speak appropriately as demanded of his job, the committee in charge of the exercise handed him over to the police for further questioning.

Mohammed was said to have confessed to the fraud and he was arrested alongside his brother.

Speaking on the development, Adamu Usman, commissioner of police, said the two brothers will be charged to court when investigation is concluded on the matter.

In June, the Niger state government discovered monthly payment of over N672 million as salaries to ghost workers in the civil service.

Ibrahim Panti, commissioner for works and infrastructural development, said over 30 percent of the workers did not turn up for the physical screening exercise.