Despite the
economic hardship, some Nigerians still stand out in their disposition to
honesty. Recently, a civil servant in Kogi State, Mrs. Husseina Mohammed, a
level
seven accountant attached to the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) in
Lokoja returned the sum N1, 780,500 paid in excess of her March salary to the
coffers of the state government.
The
screening exercise embarked upon by the Governor Yahaya Bello administration
generated so much controversy and confusion, with the accounts of some workers
who were not owed any salary arrears credited in huge sums, while some owed as
much as 15 months waited in vain for alerts crediting their accounts.
Mrs. Mohammed,
who could not contain the surprise package delivered to her account, was
cautious, even with the knowledge that her spouse, also a civil servant, was
cleared in screening exercise, but still waiting payment of his 16 months
salary arrears.
Her phone
received an alert one early morning indicating that her account had been
credited with almost N1.8million as her monthly salary, which is approximately
N34, 000. The message read: “Salary for the month of March, 2017.”
Husseina,
who was surprised, read the message severally and on getting home, narrated her
excitement to her husband. They had a brief family meeting to consider the
implication and decided to refund the money, convinced that it was the right
thing to do.
The decision
to refund the money was not unexpected, especially being an accountant and
knowledgeable of the implication of spending the money. Though a difficult
decision, especially with outstanding school fees of their children running
into the entire session, but the spouse would not be tempted to do otherwise.
She quickly
rushed to the Director General, Bureau of Information and Grassroots
Mobilisation, Alhaji Abdulkareem Abdulamlik, explain that she received an alert
from her bank in the afternoon of May 21 and discovered that a huge sum had
been credited in her favour.
She said she
started the process of returning the money to the state government on May 22,
adding that the money was paid into the government account with the Lokoja
branch of the Zenith Bank Plc.
She then
handed over the bank teller and other documents used in paying back the money
to Abdulamlik. She pleaded with government to reciprocate her good gesture by
paying her husband’s outstanding 15 months salary arrears being withheld over
discrepancy in his age declaration, which she said had since been rectified.
Abdulamlik
commended Mohammed for her honesty, saying with people like her in society,
Nigeria was sure of winning the ongoing war against corruption.
According to Guardian, He urged
other civil servants and residents of the state to emulate her, adding that her
good conduct would not go unrewarded and would be recorded for generation yet
unborn to learn and emulate.
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