Abstract
Like all forms of corruption, ghost workers present a serious drain on state funds. The Nigerian government has tens of thousands of forged or imaginary names on its payroll. These people inhabit the ranks of Nigeria’s “ghost workers,” who receive pensions from the government without ever working a day. This essay examines the impact of ghost workers on the public wage bill and generally, high cost of governance in Nigeria. It interrogates the renewed efforts of governments at all levels in probing this pattern of fraud, particularly in a period of economic recession. It is submitted in this essay that in cases where payroll fraud has reached enormous proportions, it is not merely a corruption problem, but rather a development issue.
Recommended Citation
Omilusi, Mike
(2019)
"The Plague of ‘Ghost Workers’: Interrogating Payroll Fraud and Executive-Bureaucratic Conspiracy in Nigeria,"
Journal of African Policy Studies: Vol. 25:
No.
1, Article 4.
Available at:
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/joaps/vol25/iss1/4