PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has ordered a comprehensive forensic audit of the Federal Government’s payroll and administrative systems, including the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), following revelations of ghost workers, alleged fictitious government agencies and weaknesses in the management of public resources.
Presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, announced the directive in a statement on Friday, August 28, saying it followed a Federal Executive Council resolution of August 19 in response to findings by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
Under the directive, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, will oversee and coordinate the exercise, which will examine both the technology underpinning government payroll and the administrative controls governing Federal Government ministries, departments, agencies, commissions, councils, parastatals and other public bodies.
“The audit will include a review of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), Federal Government agencies, and their administration and internal controls,” he added.
The presidential directive comes weeks after the ICPC disclosed the scale of an investigation into payroll irregularities allegedly involving hundreds of fictitious workers.
The commission said its investigation uncovered 908 suspected ghost workers across at least 50 Federal Government ministries, departments and agencies and led to the recovery of approximately N942 million in salaries allegedly paid to the fictitious employees.
The investigation began after the ICPC detected irregularities involving pension payments in 2024. According to the commission, the investigation subsequently exposed weaknesses in the IPPIS payroll system.
The ICPC had said the investigation found cases in which individuals allegedly inserted the names of relatives and associates who are not legitimate employees into the Federal Government payroll.
The commission’s chairman, Musa Aliyu, subsequently disclosed that nearly N942 million in salaries illicitly paid to the 908 suspected ghost workers was being recovered.
In July, the Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the final forfeiture to the Federal Government of N941,994,079.86 seized during the ICPC’s investigation into the 2024 IPPIS payroll fraud.
The forfeiture order, granted by a judge, Binta Nyako, stated that the government is no longer examining the problem only as an administrative irregularity but is also seeking to establish how public money was allegedly diverted through weaknesses in the payroll system.
Onanuga in his latest statement said that the audit was expected to determine the extent to which weaknesses in government systems had allowed fictitious or ineligible persons and entities to gain access to public resources.
“The first will focus on a forensic audit of government systems, particularly IPPIS and related payroll, personnel, pension and financial-management platforms. It will examine reported cases of ghost workers and payroll fraud, reconcile the figures identified by the ICPC, trace how fictitious or ineligible persons were enrolled, and review access, identity, biometric and bank-account controls,” the presidential spokesperson said.
He explained that investigators were expected to also examine the interfaces between IPPIS and other government financial systems, including the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), Remita, the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and Sub-Treasury Single Accounts.
“The second component of the audit will cover all Federal Government agencies, departments, commissions, councils, parastatals and other government bodies. It will establish a definitive inventory of such bodies and verify their legal basis, while examining how entities obtain official recognition, budgetary consideration, correspondence privileges, office facilities and access to government systems,” he added.
Tinubu directed that the exercise be conducted with the highest standards of independence, professionalism and forensic integrity.
“The audit team will have access to relevant government systems and records. It will collaborate with the ICPC to ensure that the review complements all ongoing investigations, prosecutions and recoveries. President Tinubu expects the exercise to go beyond identifying individual cases of fraud or administrative failure by strengthening the architecture of government, closing systemic loopholes, improving data verification and reconciliation, reinforcing accountability, and ensuring that only duly constituted entities and eligible personnel have access to Government resources,” Onanuga said.
The latest presidential directive formalises and expands an investigation approved by the Federal Executive Council on August 19.
At the FEC briefing that day, Oyedele said the government would conduct a holistic forensic investigation into government processes and internal-control weaknesses, including a review of IPPIS.
The minister said the review was intended to identify fictitious agencies and ghost employees and determine how such entities or individuals could gain access to government resources.
The decision followed the controversy surrounding the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), an entity that the government has disputed as a legitimate Federal Government institution.
The controversy intensified after Adeniyi Adeyemi, who presented himself as the agency’s director-general, made allegations concerning the agency’s purported establishment and funding. Those allegations have been denied by Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila, who rejected claims that he demanded or received money from Adeyemi.
The ICIR reported that the ICPC also uncovered two more ‘fake’ agencies as it widened its probe.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.