Outgoing Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Mr Stephen Oronsaye blamed greed of some public servants as the reason for corruption in the civil service, saying poor remuneration should not be used by any civil servant for indulging in corrupt practices.

"Let me say this, that your remuneration is poor is not a reason for you to indulge in corrupt practices. I would rather remain poor than soil my name. It depends on the value system. What will you tell your children if you are caught in corruption? We are trying to mould a civil service that is ready to serve and abide by the ethics of public service". Orosanye said.

Speaking on his achievements in stemming corruption, Orasonye revealed that he had introduced the biometric data capture [BDC] to curb impersonation "We are carrying out integrity checks. We do know that sometimes when you have to conduct promotion exams, because you have not put in place a mechanism that checks Mr. A sitting for Mr. B, since not all of them mature to sit for the exam at the same time. If I know that I am not a brilliant person, I may be tempted to get someone else to sit the test for me. So, we ensure that the biometric data capture exercise matches individuals with their faces for easy identification.

�Also in terms of transactions, there are checks and balances to curb corruption; we have ensured that no one transaction is completed without someone else auditing and cross-checking it".
He said he has been appreciated by pensioners all over country for the smooth payment of their pension as a result of the BDC, and also apologized for the hiccups experienced at the beginning of the programme.

"And that was why I came out to tender my apology, to say to our elder statesmen and women that the biometric data capture exercise was desirable and necessary, but you have to go through some pains. I do know that the Pension Commission of Nigeria people were carrying out verification exercise in time past but this is quite different. This is the first time that a biometric data capture exercise is being carried out by the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation. And I tell you that this will be the very last time that any pensioner, whose details have been captured will be asked to come forward with their documents for verification. What happens now is that the pensioners will go to designated centres in their different states to be verified. The question of having to queue will not arise.

"I also know that there was sabotage within the team that went round to carry out the exercise. We also had a situation in a particular centre where about 300 fake pensioners were caught by a team that I sent out. They had their fingerprints taken and were paid. We later found out that we did not have a Ministry of Establishment in 2006 and their letters of disengagement from that ministry were issued in 2006, how can you disengage from a ministry that was not in existence by the time you retired? We still have people that we have not been captured and we have taken out adverts on this. People do not need to come to Abuja to be verified". He said.

Mr Oronsaye called for transparency in the civil service and said he is confident that the reforms he introduced in the service will be continued by his successor.