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 promotion—all in apparent reprisal for whistleblowing on what he describes as a “cabal” manipulating recruitment and payroll systems.
Whistleblower’s Ordeal
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.”
A Compromised Committee
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.
Victimisation, Death Threats, and Forced Relocation
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.”
Calls for the Nullification of the Committee
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?”
Ministry Kept Mum
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 sector—and whether the country’s institutions are willing to confront corruption within their own ranks.
