Published 31st Aug, 2022

By Opeyemi Lawal

Tayo Abiodun (not real name), a Lagos-based tutor, has detailed how the Lagos State Primary Health Care Board (LSPHCB), in partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and U-Reporter, refused to pay her for a service she rendered.

Abiodun told FIJ that she took part in a UNICEF project coordinated by the LSPHCB in June but was not paid after the exercise because her name had mysteriously disappeared from the list of workers.

“I have been working with UNICEF as a U-Reporter since 2016, but this was my first quarantine (Covid-19 and measles) job with them and I was to be paid N14,200 to work for six days,” she said.

“Everyone on the project worked with UNICEF as Covid-19 and measles campaign officers in the primary health centre closest to us. I worked at Ikosi-Ketu primary health care centre. While I worked, there was a focal person whom I and every other ad-hoc staff members registered our names with in the morning and evening.

“After the exercise, they assured us that we would be paid two weeks before the end of June. However, and just before the period could come, they requested that we do some verifications because of some people who did not work but had their names on the list.”

NAMES ON LIST REPLACED BY NON-EXISTENT ONES

Abiodun said that there were different phases of submission of names by the project’s ad-hoc staff members in order to ensure that they were included in the payment. However, each subsequent phase became trickier as more names disappeared from the list to be replaced with non-existent ones.

“The names of everyone who was not on the list were compiled and sent to Tobi Fayombo, the monitoring and evaluation officer. My name was on the first list they sent. But on the subsequent lists sent, my name was missing. Each time I notified them, they would ask that I drop my details,” she said.

“Afterwards, we were asked to present ourselves for physical verification and we submitted our details again. A week later, payments were made but I was not paid. Everyone whose name was removed from the list was also excluded from payments.

“We then found out that people who did not work but were candidates of those in charge got paid. Most of them were ghost workers.

“The recent news is that Fayombo said we would be settled before the end of August and the month has ended without a word from them. Again, we were asked to collate names on a Telegram group she recently disconnected herself from. Before then, she had stopped responding to the messages on the group.”

MORE DISCOVERIES

Abiodun said more discoveries were made when it was evident other people who participated in the project across the state were paid except those in Kosofe, where she worked.

“We then found out that most of the workers in Kosofe were not paid because the coordinators who were in charge of the project brought in a lot of ghost workers,” she said.

“They even sent me a certificate of participation after work was completed. Now, if I received the certificate of participation, why have I not been paid? And how did my name mysteriously disappear from the list?”

When FIJ contacted Ifeoluwa Adesokan, U-Report facilitator and southwest territory officer, on why the names of some workers were removed, she said there was a mix-up from the local government level, assuring that it would soon be resolved.

“There was a mixup and it’s probably from the local government level. They sent a list of people who worked and they said they omitted some people’s names, so Fayombo was trying to compile the new list,” she said.

“Most people in the LGA are yet to be paid because of this omission. The Lagos State Primary Health Care Board is responsible for payment and they are probably compiling names because it is across the 20 LGAs in the state.”

Asked whether ghost workers were included on lists, she said a physical verification was set up as a measure to curb it.

“LSPHCB carried out a physical verification just to verify ghost workers and fish them out. However, because I wasn’t a part of the verification, I don’t have much to say on that.”

Tayo Fayombo, the monitoring and evaluation officer, also denied the ghost workers claim. She said there was nothing of such in Kosofe Local Government Area, adding that the workers were recruited by U-Report and not them.

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