Over 80,000 ‘Ghost Officers’ Uncovered In Police

 

   The 371,800 figure often quoted as the number of members of the Nigeria Police Force in the country included no fewer than 80,115 ‘ghost officers’, data obtained from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation by Premium Times have uncovered.

   The data revealed that following the full integration of payrolls of the country’s 42 police commands and formations into the federal government Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) last February, staff count stood at only 291,685, with gross salary of about N22.3 million. The extra number of officers, which the top hierarchy of the police failed to account for, have for several years been drawing billions in salaries and other benefits.

   At the meeting of the Federal Executive Council in Abuja last Wednesday, the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, presented an updated report on the implementation of the IPPIS. The minister confirmed that 511 ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) have been captured under the system, with staff count of about 607,843. Of this number, the minister said, 469 MDAs, with staff count of 316,158, and gross salary of N43.98 billion, were from MDAs whose payrolls have been captured under the IPPIS as at March 20.

  Mrs Adeosun said this did not cover staff count of 291,685 from the 42 police commands and formations across the country captured on IPPIS platform as at February which accounted for a gross pay of over N22.3 billion. In addition, she said staff count of para-military agencies, namely Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigeria Prison Service and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps under the IPPS to date stood at about 100,822, with a trial payroll cost of over N11.5 billion for the corresponding period.

   The figures, which the minister said have been sent for review and update against the April 2018  payroll involved a staff count almost the size of the extra ghost officers uncovered in the police payroll. The minister said government saved over N68 billion on personnel cost though the full deployment of the IPPS in the payrolls of MDAs in spite of increase in personnel, including the recent employment of fresh 10,000 officers by the Nigerian Police.