Nigerian cab driver in UK receiving salary 2 yrs after leaving civil service

The driver, whose story was recently published by the BBC under a pseudonym, left Nigeria two years ago but has not resigned from his position as a junior official at a government agency and still gets paid each month.

Alarmed by the revelations the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HoSF), Folasade Yemi-Esan, shared with him regarding employees who had relocated abroad while drawing salaries without formally resigning, Tinubu ordered that those responsible must be held to account.

The President directed that beneficiaries of the practice should not only be made to repay the money but those who aided them should be investigated and punished accordingly.

“The culprits must be made to refund the money they have fraudulently collected.

“Their supervisors and department heads must also be punished for aiding and abetting the fraud under their watch,” Tinubu said.

However, reacting to the President’s threat, the UK-based cabby said he’s not worried about losing his salary because he now makes a lot more driving a taxi.

He added that he won’t lose sleep over losing his monthly Nigerian salary of 150,000, naira which is equivalent to $100 or £80.

“When I heard about the president’s directive, I smiled because I know I am doing better here – and not worried,” he told BBC.

The 36-year-old also confirmed the President’s claim about accomplices within the system as he admitted that his department continued to facilitate his payment because they have a good rapport.

“I had a good understanding with my boss and he just let me leave,” he disclosed.

However, unlike in some cases where the salary is divided between the supervisor who looks the other way, the beneficiary, and maybe the HR representative, the taxi driver enjoys the protection of his relative.

“In my case, it wasn’t like that as my boss was a relative,” he added.

His story is one out of hundreds of civil servants who have continued to plunder the system despite having left the country.

Despite several attempts by the government to crack down on the problem, it is believed that thousands of non-existent employees are still drawing salaries from the government amid the laxity of checks and balances.

However, beyond the undeserved payment, there are other factors responsible for why civil servants choose not to exit the system even after relocating abroad and this can be gleaned from the UK-based taxi driver’s revelation.

“To be honest I didn’t resign because I wanted to leave that door open in case I choose to go back to my job after a few years,” he said.