*Reps begins probe of recruitments in last 8 years

No fewer than 1,618 civil servants were handed over to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate how they got their employment letters.

The measure announced by the Office of the Head of Service is coming on the heels of moves by the House of Representatives which is asking the Chief Executive Officers of Federal Government Institutions to appear before its Ad-hoc Committee investigating the recruitment into various Public Institutions including Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) between 2015 to date.

A resolution of the House called for the investigation of the mismanagement of personnel recruitment, employment racketeering and gross mismanagement of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), and other institutions.

Other terms of reference include investigation into recruitment into various public tertiary institutions like teaching hospitals, Federal Medical Centers, Neuro-Psychiatric Hospitals, Orthopedic Hospitals, National Eye Center and National Ear Care Center.

Also up for scrutiny are employments for all Federal universities; polytechnics; colleges of education; Federal Government Colleges; research institutes; river basin development authorities; and commissions under the presidency.

Head of Civil Service of the federation, Folashade Yemi-Esan, on her part announced the discovery of the 1,618 staff with fake employment letters to journalists in Abuja.

She disclosed that the civil servants with fake employment letters were discovered after the introduction of control mechanisms to address loopholes identified in the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Personnel Information System (IPPIS).

Worse for the civil servants, they have been removed from the IPPIS platform. It means they will not get salaries from the Federal Government, and may have to cough out what they illegally got, for some, as far back as eight years.