The Federal Government says it has uncov
ered 23,000 ghost names in the pay roll of
workers in course of efforts to eliminate corruption in the Public Service. The feat was also attributed to the use of workers, Bank Verification Numbers (BVN).
Following the success at the federal level, a number of States have directed their staff to submit their BVNs as condition for the release of their salaries. Even as workers have complied, fears being expressed in some quarters on the subject needs to be evaluated.
The problem of ghost names on workers payroll is as old as the Public Service itself. Every now and then States would announce that they have uncovered ghost names and nobody gets punished. In fact, it is very annoying because before long, more names would appear and the wage bill gets even bigger.
The failure of the system to deal with the phenomenon, government after government tended to formalise corruption and embolden those in the Accounts Department to do more. Though the innocent staff grumble, but the favoured ones go home super-rich, acquire estates and expensive cars and the scandal gets nowhere.
That is why all well-meaning Nigerians will want to see the end to corruption in the Public Service. Indeed, no measure taken to achieve that can be said to be too much, especially the one that would ensure that the names do not get back into the system when the noise dies down. In fact, many people would wish that those who generated the ghost names or benefitted by them would be identified and prosecuted.
The Tide is aware that giving the grim economic realities of the time, government should plug all sources of corruption and waste to be able to function. Apart from the sanity it would return to the Public Service, money so recouped can be put to better public use like the provision of security, social amenities and education.
Even so, when it comes to the issue of BVN, a lot of caution will be required. The cautious optimism being expressed by some workers should as a matter of fact serve to put government on adequate notice and to compel persons in whose care these numbers are left to proceed with utmost responsibility.
As the conscience of society we support the use of the BVN to deal with systemic corruption in the Public Service. But giving the increasing level of criminality and the demonic ingenuity of fraudsters, anything that would have to do with one’s bank account cannot be left to chance.
Our worry stems from reports that Information Technology (IT) robbers have actually emptied accounts of unsuspecting depositors whose only fault was the access of very simple bank details. It is reported that some persons can actually touch any account through phone numbers, serial numbers on ATM cards, Pin Numbers, passwords, BVN and the full bank account numbers.
In fact, banks have advised that the BVN be kept safe, secret and personal. This is because with the BVN, the system can locate all ones accounts and perhaps serve as the authentication for transactions on ones account. Clearly, the BVN is a one-stop-shop to ones financial store house.
At a time hackers are on the prowl, access to the BVN of workers can spell doom. That is why extreme care is needed in the handling of the BVN by government officials. In fact, some persons have suggested that after using the BVN to normalise the payroll, documents bearing the BVN information should be destroyed.
As a matter of fact, the safety of the BVN and by extension the bank accounts of the workers need to be considered because BVN is for life. It follows therefore, that even for those who would retire and start business would still have their accounts exposed.
But the caution is not only for the government, the banks must become more careful and contact account owners for verification on every third party withdrawals. They must discourage all unconventional withdrawals and electronic transfers, especially on accounts that don’t have such history.
We are persuaded that by the time all the States embark on this measure that has only become imperative, more than a hundred ghost names can be fished out. That would also mean the opportunity to employ more hands as real recruitment have not been done for years because some officials were employing ghosts.
The point is that if operators of government businesses at the Federal and State levels know that handling other persons BVN is potentially dangerous, they may become more careful to avoid law suits.