Stealing from pensioners

Category: Pensions


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Stealing from pensionersThe failure to check rampant mismanagement of public pension funds in the past six years has grossly undermined the gains of the anti-graft war. Fresh reports indicate that the numerous audits of staff and pensioners, over the years, have failed to check the activities of an organised syndicate that pockets the entitlements of retired civil servants and armed forces personnel. The fraud in civil service pensions is the direct consequence of the crooked payroll system, which the nation still operates. According to the Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Federal Government owes more than N1 trillion in pension arrears. But the presence of fictitious names on the payroll makes it difficult to place any accurate figure on the nation’s pension liability. The age-long sloppy records of staff and pensioners, according to the Finance Minister, once led to a loss of N3 billion paid to ghost pensioners from 220 federal parastatals. The Federal Capital Territory Minister, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, once claimed that there were as many as 44,817 ghost workers among 774,000 names on the federal civil service payroll. Since “ghost” allowances were also monetised, the fraudsters who inserted the names and were pocketing N108 million monthly became richer after the monetisation policy. The syndrome’s grip on retirees’ payroll is even more vicious. Sources at the Directorate of Military Pensions reckon that there are as many as 27,000 “ghost” military pensioners. These include 9,000 without mandatory discharge certificates, and another 4,000 deserters, all drawing pensions. Immediately pensions allocations are made by the government, those who are first paid are the “ghost retirees” whose “pensions” simply disappear into the pockets of corrupt officials. Few months ago, for instance, the FG claimed to have released N105 billion to settle pensions and other benefits of retired soldiers between 1999 and 2003. But in a recent nationwide protest, military pensioners said they had not been paid for about 42 months. In addition, the unresolved issues of pensions liability are threatening government’s privatisation policy. Workers are kicking against the reform because they are unsure of their terminal benefits. Also, prospective core investors do not want anything to do with the pensions burden. Pension liability of the Nigeria Railway Corporation, NITEL, Nigeria Airways, and the erstwhile NEPA alone is up to N300 billion. Indeed, it is surprising that widespread graft in pensions administration has not attracted the attention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission or the Police. Former Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Ibrahim Ogohi, and the ex-chairman of the Directorate of Military Pensions, Rear Admiral Peter Ebhaleme, as well as the National Assembly, have, at different times, exposed monumental frauds at the Military Pensions Board. Public hearings of the House of Representatives have revealed collusion between top pensions officials and banks to perpetrate fraud. Sadly, no sooner are those sordid revelations made than the stinking business of corruption continue as usual, pending another exposure. The elusiveness of these ghosts and the utter incapacity of the top hierarchy of the civil service to uncover the real syndicates behind the large scale theft, confirm that the endemic fraud is being perpetrated by privileged public office holders. Indeed, the failure of the anti-graft war, for six years, to apprehend and punish the payroll thieves, gives the impression that the government has deliberately permitted the fraud in order to compensate some cronies. That impression is not good for the administration’s image. Though the new contributory pensions reforms will ultimately help eliminate the burden, it is the duty of the government to settle the backlog of entitlements and plug leakages through sound and automated public service record-keeping. - Punch

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