10,000 Ghost Workers on Customs Payroll

Jacob Buba Gyang


‘10,000 Ghost Workers on Customs Payroll’
From Onwuka Nzeshi in Abuja, 05.18.2009

The House of Representatives Committee on Customs and Excise has stumbled on another startling revelation in the ongoing probe of the inefficiency and alleged corruption in the system.
According to its finding, about 50 per cent of the 20,000 workforce in the Nigeria Customs Service under the regime of the immediate past Comptroller General of Customs, Jacob Buba Gyang, were ghost workers.
This was the submission of Business Ventures Watch, one of the numerous organisations giving testimonies at the public hearing. Business Ventures Watch, represented by Mr. Kola Shola, said Gyang maintained an overhead budget based on a staff strength of 20,000 when the Service had only 10,000 workforce even as at April 2008.
It was also alleged that the Nigeria Customs Service during the period under review was involved in some illegal deals including the importation and clearance of contrabands and fire arms into the country.
In a sworn affidavit with several annexures in support of the allegations, Shola said that the Customs Service apart from awarding several fictitious and over-bloated contracts also paid the sum of N5.4billion as consultancy fee for project supervision contrary to Federal Government’s policy guidelines.

Also five different contracts worth over a hundred million naira were awarded by the service for the supply of four Toyota Jeeps and three sound proof generators contrary to the directive of the Board of the Nigeria Customs Service and Federal Government’s Financial Regulation No. 2909(ii) and 2910 and Section 19(a) and 22(3) of the Public Procurement Act 2007.
The contracts include the supply of two Toyota Lexus Jeep 2007 Model LX470 with full options and back up spare parts at N42,900,000.00; two Toyota Prado Jeep 2007 Model GX with spare parts back up at the cost of N26,340,000.00; one 250KVA Perkins sound proof generator for Customs Office at Onne , Port Harcourt, at the cost of N13,354,550.64; one 100KVA Perkins sound proof generator for Comptroller General of Customs Guest House, Wuse at the cost of N8,980,700.00 and one 100KVA Perkins sound proof generator to Customs Office Bauchi at the cost of N8,980,500.00 only.
The Nigeria Customs Service Board had at its 20th regular meeting held on Tuesday October 10, 2006 queried the award of the said contracts without following the due process of passing through the Finance and General Purposes Committee of the Board. Each of the five contracts was above the sum of one million naira and therefore required the approval of the customs board. The testimonies and affidavits have since been admitted in evidence pending the appearance of the former Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs who was said to have authorised the transactions during his stewardship at the Nigeria Customs Service.