The team was mandated by the Federal Government to restructure and sanitise the system.44,320 people entitled to receive pensions were also added to the rolls.
Investigations revealed that before the biometric exercise, there were about 141,792 pensioners throughout the country with a total monthly pension of N3.3bn.
Our correspondent learnt that after the first phase, the team came back with a total number of 70,657 genuine pensioners out of the 141,792 pensioners before the commencement of the exercise.
A source said, “These are the findings of the team, realising 71,135 ghost pensioners. With this discovery, the total monthly pension of these genuine pensioners dropped to N790m.”
Countries aren't poor because of natural resources, the ethnicity of their inhabitants, fertility of their farmland, geography, or even the bellicosity of their neighbors. They are poor because of corruption. Corrupt countries are poor countries and people in poor countries experience more suffering in their shorter lives than those who live in less corrupt countries.
The poverty fueled by the type and breadth of corruption discovered in Nigeria is perhaps the world's foremost cause of human suffering. If political will and organizational ability can be found in the same place at the same time, biometrics can help extend a lifeline to the most vulnerable and desparate of people.
Non-biometric ID management in rich countries is expensive and is highly dependant upon the integrity of those issuing the identity credentials (birth certificates, drivers licenses, passports, etc). Biometrics offer places with ability and will the opportunity to lift their populations out of poverty at a price they can afford. This leapfrogging phenomenon is similar to the telecommunications revolution that allowed large portions of Africa to skip the expensive and labor-intensive technology of the copper wire telephone network in favor of a cellular system.
See also:
Rigorous ID management is necessary in controlling ghost workers
Biometrics reveal a staggering level of fraud in Nigeria
