Nine civil servants who were identified to be using ghost workers on the payrolls of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources to siphon N338,577,678.78 in the name of the non-existent workers, are now standing trial at an Abuja High Court. They were being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The nine suspects were detected by a team that is running the Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit (PICA).
They were alleged to have conspired and inserting fake workers in the payrolls of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources.
The suspects charged were Usman Aliyu Dayo, Osunlope Opeyemi, Johnson Adedokun, Ojeifo Robert Sylvanus, Oyebade Ebenezer Ayodeji and Florence Olaolu Dada. Others were Olaolu Haruna Dada, Blessing Ejeh and Aderibigbe Isaac Taiwo. They all pleaded not guilty when the 15-count charge was read to them and their Counsels applied for bail on their behalf.
The charge sheet filed by the EFCC indicated that the alleged fraud was committed at various times between 2011 and 2015.
The Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit which detected the fraud, was instituted by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Administration in 2016 to strengthen the controls over personnel and pension costs. [myad]
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