A Nigerian lawyer identified as Theophilus Omenuwoma has returned N61.6m mistakenly credited to his account.
Omenuwoma, a Deputy Director at the Ministry of Justice, Delta State, works at Effurun, Uvwie Local Government Area while narrating his experience to The Nation, said he received the alert around 1:44 pm on Wednesday, August 30.
According to him, he thought it was N61,000, so he began to wonder why he was short-paid as he was expecting his salary.
However, when he took a closer look at the alert, he noticed that the sum was N61,626,676 and not N61,000.
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He quickly put a call across to his boss, the Solicitor-General of the state, Omamuzo Erebe, and the office of the Accountant General of the Ministry to inform them of the situation.
He said: “It was salary we were expecting. I wasn’t paid on time, so I was expecting. Then I had an alert and it was over N61 million.
“When I checked and confirmed it was N61 million, I had to call my PS and Solicitor-General of the state and told him about it.
“I was told not to do anything about it but come to Asaba and inform the people in Accounts and also inform the bank.
“I travelled to Asaba to inform Accounts about it. I got my payroll and discovered that my pay slip, the excess of it was due to an account error from Ecobank, not the government.
“Initially, I thought, why did they pay me N61,000? But when I counted the zeros, actually it was N61 million.”
Speaking on the banks reaction to his kind gesture, Omenuwoma said: “They just acknowledged, thanked me and said it was a computer glitch and they would correct it. They didn’t do more than that before I saw the reversal.”
Further recounting the experience, the lawyer said: “Actually, we were expecting some arrears at this period, but it wasn’t to that tune. When I saw it, it was in a wide range.
“You would be happy, but since it is not my money… I knew it was not my money and I am a law officer, a lawyer by profession, and at the Ministry of Justice, Delta State, we are told to uphold the highest of integrity.
“So in line with that, we are not supposed to do anything that is untoward.
“Also, I cannot be ashamed to say that I am a Christian. So by virtue of my training, profession and being a Christian, I cannot collect what does not belong to me, no matter the circumstance.
“The temptation is there. There were some friends that said ‘Ah, if you get such money, just take off. Before they know it, you are out of the country.’ But it is not in my character to do that.
“Costs follow events; that’s what we say in law.”
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