President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, as part of the ongoing efforts at making a firm control of his administration’s activities, has reportedly directed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to stop further payments to the Federal Government’s Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) till further notice.

A Presidency source Friday, June 16, 2023, in Abuja, FCT, affirmed the Presidential order was issued before Mr. Godwin Emefiele, embattled Governor of the CBN, was suspended and handed over to the Department of State Services (DSS) for ‘investigative reasons’, Saturday Tribune report said.

The source said the directive, which came immediately after President Tinubu assumed office, was reportedly to ensure accountability in the MDAs and prevent looting of the government’s treasury.

The directive is total and clear, with no exception, noted the source.

Investigation further revealed that following the development, the government’s MDAs to have placed a total embargo on payments to their creditors till further notice, finding it difficult to operate as no more money coming from the government and CBN, report said.

The Director-General of a Federal Government Agency, who confirmed the development, in confidence, also said that the Presidential directive had grounded operations for the second weeks running, as the agency had no money to run its operations.

“The Federal Government has placed an embargo on CBN to stop further payments to the MDAs, we are not expecting money from anywhere, debts are piling up, even money we are owing Media Houses for advertisements, we have no money to settle the debts.

“The saving grace we have is that the staff salaries are being paid directly from the office of the Accountant General of the Federation.

“I think the situation will be normalised very soon,” explained the source.

In a a related development, President Tinubu has also approved suspension of the Assistant Director In Charge of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), and others in the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) for alleged salary padding.

It was gathered that the Assistant Director at the OAGF in charge in charge of staff salary was alleged to have connived with some staff to pad up the salaries of an unspecified number of lower-level staff.

As regards the allegation of salary padding, further  checks revealed that several civil servants across several Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), including the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) and Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF), have been suspended for alleged salary padding on the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).

The development was confirmed by a top official in the office of the Accountant General of the Federation.

The official, who hinted that affected personnel had been placed on suspension pending investigation.

“The scam was discovered when a level 7 officer whose salary should be in the range of N60,000 was paid over N400,000, which was in the range of a salary package of a Director.

“The salary padding racket had been on for a while among a small clique of civil servants in different MDAs with the IPPIS office in the OAGF as the epicenter,” the source noted.

The official also hinted that “a staff suspected to be connected with the breach has been suspended to allow for a thorough investigation.

“All necessary steps are being taken to strengthen the controls around the IPPIS payment platform, and an independent forensic audit of the entire payroll system is underway to ascertain if the reported breach is isolated or widespread.”