Japa: I still get paid as a Nigerian civil servant – UK cab driver

A Nigerian taxi driver in the United Kingdom has opened up on how he has continued to get paid each month as a junior official at a government agency back home.

The driver, whose story was recently published by the BBC, left Nigeria two years ago but has not resigned from his former workplace.

This is coming barely a week after President Bola Tinubu ordered a crackdown on civil servants who are still drawing salaries from the government coffers despite no longer being in the country.

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.

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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.

But reacting to the President’s threat, the UK-based cabby, whose name was changed to Sabitu Adams by BBC to protect his identity, said he’s not worried about losing his salary because he now makes a lot more driving a taxi.

Adams 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. 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 disclosed.