A civil servant in Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Works has accused senior officials of orchestrating a prolonged campaign of retaliation after he exposed alleged employment racketeering and fraudulent payroll practices within the Ministry.
Martins Atijegbe, a Grade Level 9 officer, claims he has been denied his salary for over a year and blocked from receiving a routine promotionโall in apparent reprisal for whistleblowing on what he describes as a “cabal” manipulating recruitment and payroll systems.
๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐๐๐น๐ฒ๐ฏ๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ’๐ ๐ข๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น
Atijegbe’s ordeal began in July 2020, when he submitted a formal petition to then-Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola.
The petition detailed how individuals with forged appointment letters were allegedly being enrolled into the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), Nigeria’s central salary database for federal workers.
Copies of the petition were also sent to top government oversight bodies, including the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Head of Civil Service, the Federal Civil Service Commission, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Despite the gravity of the allegations, Atijegbe says the Ministry responded not with reform, but with retaliation.
“I was not dismissed, but my salary stopped coming. For 15 months, I’ve received nothing,” Atijegbe told reporters. “When I asked for my payslip, I was told I needed permission from the Director of Human Resources. I’ve also been denied promotion since this began.”
๐ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฒ
Following the petition, an eight-member investigative committee was constituted. However, Atijegbe’s legal counsel, Dr Abdul Mahmud, alleges that the committee included individuals implicated in the very allegations under review, compromising its integrity from the outset.
“The committee was tainted. It was a textbook case of conflict of interest,” Mahmud said. “My client was denied access to the committee’s report and the evidence used against him. He was not granted a fair hearing.”
Mahmud further claims that the committee’s final report omitted key evidence of fraudulent documentation and manipulated findings to protect those involved. He also dismissed allegations of extortion and sexual harassment levelled against Atijegbe, stating that no witnesses were ever produced to substantiate the claims.
๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป, ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ต ๐ง๐ต๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐น๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป
In what Mahmud describes as a “deliberate act of persecution,” Atijegbe was posted to a field office in Gwagwalada, a move he says was accompanied by threats to his life.
“This is not just about one man. It’s about the erosion of integrity in our civil service,” Mahmud said. “When whistleblowers are punished and corruption is institutionalised, the public loses trust in governance.”
๐๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ก๐๐น๐น๐ถ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฒ
Mahmud is demanding the resignation of officials implicated in the alleged racketeering and a nullification of the committee’s report.
He is also calling for an independent investigation into the employment fraud and for his client to receive complete protection under Nigeria’s whistleblower protection framework.
He urged the National Assembly Committee on Ethics and Public Petitions to invoke its constitutional powers under Section 88 of the 1999 Constitution to investigate the matter.
“This is a test of our national conscience,” Mahmud said. “Will we protect those who speak truth to power, or will we crush them under the weight of institutional corruption?”
๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐๐๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ ๐ ๐๐บ
Repeated attempts to obtain a comment from the Ministry of Works were unsuccessful. Calls to the Directors of Human Resources and Information went unanswered.
As the case unfolds, it raises pressing questions about the treatment of whistleblowers in Nigeria’s public sectorโand whether the country’s institutions are willing to confront corruption within their own ranks.
