Foreign
Japa: Outrage as UK-based driver remains on FG payroll
There was outrage on Sunday over a United Kingdom-based taxi driver, who remained on the Federal Government’s payroll despite migrating to the UK in 2022.
Civil society organisations who spoke to The PUNCH on Sunday said the report was an indication of how deeply-rooted corruption was in the Nigerian civil service.
President Bola Tinubu had last week ordered a crackdown on civil servants who were still collecting salaries despite migrating abroad.
“The culprits must be made to refund the money they have fraudulently collected,” he said.
The BBC had on Sunday reported that a 36-year-old Nigerian civil servant, referred to as Sabitu Adams (not real name), who moved to the United Kingdom in 2022, was still collecting the salary of a civil servant.
‘Collecting N150,000 monthly’
According to the report, despite working as a taxi driver in the UK, Adams disclosed to the BBC that he continues to receive N150,000 monthly from the government job in Nigeria due to an understanding with his boss.
He said, “When I heard about the President’s directive, I smiled because I know I am doing better here – and not worried.”
Adams said he thought he would probably return after spending some years abroad when asked why he refused to resign from his position after relocating to the UK.
“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.
Corrupt civil service
Commenting on the case of the UK-based driver, civil society organisation emphasised the need for stringent measures to restore accountability and effectiveness within the civil service.
They called for the prosecution of those involved in unauthorised salary payments and urged the government to take decisive action to address this corruption.
The Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, Auwal Musa, raised alarm over the pervasive corruption and lack of accountability within Nigeria’s civil service.
Musa stated, “I think the lack of accountability in governance is the crux of the matter because if people who are not supposed to collect salaries are still collecting, it can mean that some people are coordinating to short-change the nation.
“This can only happen because of the bastardisation of the civil service system. Everything is corrupted. A lot of people are getting these salaries and allowances without appearing in the office. I think corruption has undermined the effectiveness of the civil service in Nigeria,” he said.
Musa called for a comprehensive audit of workers and urged that those involved in these corrupt practices be held accountable.
On his part, the Executive Director of the Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, Debo Adeniran, criticised the dereliction of duty by civil service leaders.
He stated, “It is an admission of dereliction of duty and it is enough for the Head of the Civil Service to be fired because it is her job to ensure that every civil servant is at his duty post at every particular time.
“They should supervise the supervisors, oversee the functioning of each officer, and render a performance index at the end of every day. The buck stops on her desk.”
Adeniran also called for accountability from the heads of agencies, departments, and key officials like the accountant general and auditor general. He stressed the importance of maintaining attendance registers and job performance records as references for salary processing.
He also said those who aided such practices should be handed over to the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission for proper investigation and prosecution.
Also, the National Coordinator of the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, Emmanuel Onwubiko, emphasised the need for consequences for those responsible.
He asked, “What is going to happen to the person that allowed it to happen? That is what the government should be asking. Extend it to those who benefited initially from the funds. If it is the Head of Service, the person should be dismissed. If the person is no longer in service, then appropriate actions must be taken.”
Similarly, the Executive Director of the Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre, Okechukwu Nwagunma, said the practice was unacceptable within the public service.
He stated, “If any public servant needs to travel out of Nigeria and stay away from work, there must be a permit.”
Group, a democratic institute dedicated to ensuring the stability of democracy in Nigeria, attributed the situation to a total system breakdown.
Sowunmi urged the government to take decisive action to identify and punish those responsible for exploiting the country’s resources by taking advantage of the porous system.
He said, “We now have a situation whereby we have workers both in the state and federal civil service, but in reality, some of them are based abroad. Either they went for a quick job or they relocated abroad without their salaries being discontinued. This is a mark of corruption within the system.
“The new payment system introduced by the Federal Government was meant to address this. What is happening now shows the weakness in the system. It has not been able to stop the milking of the resources of the country by those who have migrated.
“It is not only these people who should be made to pay back but also those who are authorising the payment at the departmental level should also be made to face the music. How could they have been collecting salaries for a year and more without anybody not knowing?
“Whoever is in charge of certifying the payment of workers should also be culpable. All of those within the service who collaborated with these people should be prosecuted. The government should go all out to fish them out; otherwise, those conspiring to cheat the country would not desist from doing so.”
Also, the President of the Centre for Human and Social Economic Rights, Comrade Alex Omotehinse, said individuals would keep exploiting resources as long as anti-corruption agencies remained selective in their efforts to combat the corruption crisis in the country.
He noted, “That is what we are saying about how corruption has eaten deep into our policies, and the so-called anti-graft agencies are experts in selectiveness in the fight against corruption.
“It is obvious that the EFCC and ICPC only go after those that don’t play ball or have a godfather because it’s only when the person involved is not among the untouchables. First, the person who is paying must know about it. Secondly, the ministry or MDAs he belongs to must be questioned.”
Japa syndrome
Supporting others, the Executive Director of Paradigm Leadership Support Initiative, Olusegun Elemo, highlighted that the japa syndrome was not limited to the federal level but affected various states and agencies.
“It is not particular to the Federal Government. I think there are multiple cases across different states of the federation and multiple agencies of government whether at the federal or state level.
“We cannot shy away from the Japa syndrome. It is affecting everybody and there are many young people in civil service as well,” Elemo remarked, stressing the need for comprehensive reforms.
He proposed that both federal and state governments, along with local authorities, should undertake thorough payroll audits.
These audits, he argued, are essential to identify discrepancies and ensure that public funds are properly managed.
Furthermore, Elemo suggested implementing performance assessments to evaluate the contributions of government personnel. This, he believed, would enhance productivity and accountability within the civil service.
“What the government needs to do; not just the federal government now but even the state government and local government, they need to conduct a payroll audit.
“Also, they can do some sort of performance assessment of the personnel that each of these charters of governments have to see who and who has been contributing to the pool of performance,” he said.
The issue of ghost workers in the federal civil service has been a persistent problem, with several notable cases highlighting the extent of the issue.
In June 2022, the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms announced that the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System had identified and removed approximately 70,000 ghost workers, saving the government at least N220 billion.
In July 2020, the Ministry of Finance announced that it had identified over 50,000 ghost workers on the payroll of various federal ministries, departments, and agencies.
Also in 2018, the Federal Government found that there were ghost workers among the beneficiaries of the N-Power scheme, a social investment programme aimed at employing young Nigerians.
The discovery was made through the use of the Bank Verification Number system, which helped identify multiple accounts linked to a single individual.
The government uncovered an additional 11,000 ghost workers during an audit of its payroll system in May 2017. The effort was part of a continued crackdown on corruption and inefficiencies within the civil service. The audit was conducted using biometric data and other verification methods.
In March 2016, President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration discovered over 23,000 ghost workers on the federal payroll. The removal of the ghost workers reportedly saved the government about N2.29 billion monthly.
PUNCH
South Africa’s anti-immigration group, March and March, has announced September 30 as a fresh deadline for undocumented foreigners to leave the country, as it staged a protest outside the Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit in Durban on Monday.
The group marched through central Durban under the theme, “It’s time to fetch your people,” calling on African leaders attending the 46th SADC Summit to take back their citizens living in South Africa without legal documentation.
March and March had earlier led nationwide protests on June 30, demanding tougher government action against undocumented immigration and warning that its campaign would continue until its demands were addressed.
Announcing its latest action, the group said the September 30 deadline would mark the beginning of what it described as the “mother of all protests”, while urging South Africans to assist the police in identifying undocumented foreigners.
The protest took place as the 46th Ordinary SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government got underway in Durban, with leaders from the regional bloc’s 16 member states in attendance.
The demonstration has renewed debate over South Africa’s treatment of foreign nationals, particularly citizens of other African countries.
President Cyril Ramaphosa recently condemned discrimination and violence against foreigners, saying South Africa could not advocate regional integration at the SADC summit while practising exclusion within the country.
The June 30 protests were accompanied by security operations and reports of attacks and looting in some areas, according to police reports cited in the original report.
March and March has continued to demand tougher action against undocumented immigration, while tensions over the treatment of foreign nationals have prompted some African countries to evacuate their citizens from South Africa.
The latest protest has brought the immigration dispute directly to the doorstep of the SADC summit, placing the issue before regional leaders whose citizens are among those affected.
US President Donald Trump has threatened to bomb Oman if it “gets in the way” of a US deal with Iran over the Strait of Hormuz, while calling on Tehran to surrender.
Trump made the remarks in an interview with Fox News journalist Trey Yingst, amid ongoing talks between Oman and Iran over future maritime navigation arrangements through the strategic waterway.
“If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the shit out of them,” Trump said, referring to the discussions between Oman and Iran as Washington pursues its own negotiations.
Iranian and Omani officials have been holding talks for weeks, with Iran’s Foreign Ministry saying Monday that both sides were working towards a joint declaration on the strait.
Trump has repeatedly claimed that the Strait of Hormuz is under US control, despite Iran maintaining an effective blockade that has severely restricted maritime traffic.
On Friday, Trump said he could even declare the Strait of Hormuz part of US territory, prompting Iran to insist that the strategic waterway “will remain Iranian.”
Trump also called on Iran to “put up the white flag of surrender,” according to Yingst.
The Strait of Hormuz, which lies between Iran to the north and Oman to the south, was previously regarded as an open international waterway and carries a significant share of global energy shipments.
AFP
There has been no known deployment of US ground forces in Iran during the Middle East war, with the exception of a rescue mission in April for a downed American pilot.
Hatami did not provide any details on where or when the killing or capturing of US soldiers was expected to take place.
“Anyone who kills or captures and hands over an invading American military personnel will receive a reward equivalent to $30,000 or 5 billion tomans from the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Army,” Hatami said, using an informal unit equivalent to 10,000 Iranian rials.
The war between Tehran and Washington began on February 28 after the United States, joined by Israel, attacked Iran. It was followed by an April ceasefire after nearly 40 days of fighting, and a June framework for peace talks that later collapsed.
Iran and the United States have since traded fire sporadically, with fighting mainly centred in southern Iran and around the Strait of Hormuz.
AFP
The family of Philip Ifeanyi Elobuike, an indigene of Eziama Village, Ebe, in Udi Local Government Area of Enugu State, has appealed to the public for assistance in locating him after his photograph surfaced on social media following nearly two years without contact.
Elobuike first travelled to the United States around 2004 and initially settled in the Los Angeles area of California. He later moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, before relocating to Dallas, Texas.
According to his family, Elobuike remained in contact with his relatives in Nigeria until around 2024, when communication with him suddenly stopped. Before losing contact, he was active on social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram.
His family had continued searching for him, and on August 11, 2026, they were relieved when his photograph surfaced on social media. The picture provided them with at least some reassurance that he was alive.
Elobuike Philip
However, contrary to reports circulating in some media outlets and on social media, Elobuike has not been reunited with his family or located by his kinsmen in the United States.
His relatives and members of the Nigerian community reportedly spent the entire day on August 12 searching for him in different parts of Dallas but were unable to locate him.
The family is therefore appealing to members of the public, particularly Nigerians and other individuals in the Dallas area, to assist in locating Elobuike and ensuring that he is safely reunited with his family.
The family also urged people to disregard reports claiming that he has already been found and reunited with his relatives, describing such reports as inaccurate.
Anyone who has information about Elobuike’s whereabouts or comes across him is urged to contact any of the following:
Dr. Fred Ngwu: (214) 418-8145
Moses Onyejekwe: (213) 479-2340
Law Okolo: (646) 302-2597
The family expressed appreciation to everyone who has shared his photograph and appealed for continued circulation of the information until he is successfully located.
No fewer than 205 Nigerians were deported from Canada in June 2026 as Canadian authorities intensified enforcement of the country’s immigration laws, according to official figures released by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).
Immigration removal statistics published by the CBSA showed that 10,607 individuals were removed from Canada during the month, with Nigerians ranking among the top 10 nationalities affected by the exercise.
The figures indicate that Nigerians accounted for nearly two per cent of all removals carried out in June.
India recorded the highest number of deportations, with 3,323 nationals removed, followed by Mexico with 1,573. The United States accounted for 372 deportees, while Colombia and Romania recorded 354 and 293 removals respectively.
Other countries with significant numbers of nationals deported included Bangladesh, with 227, and Pakistan, with 207.
Explaining the rationale behind the removals, the CBSA said enforcing immigration laws was critical to protecting the integrity of Canada’s immigration system.
“Removing individuals who do not have the right to enter or stay in Canada is essential to maintaining the integrity of Canada’s immigration program and to ensuring fairness for those who come to this country lawfully,” the agency stated.
The latest figures underscore Canada’s continued enforcement against individuals found to have no legal right to remain in the country, as authorities seek to ensure compliance with the nation’s immigration laws.
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