Police Top Payroll Fraud List as ICPC Uncovers 908 Ghost Workers, Recovers N942m
Police Top Payroll Fraud List as ICPC Uncovers 908 Ghost Workers, Recovers N942m
By Divine Macaulay ยท
According to Aliyu, investigators uncovered cases in which senior public officials allegedly enlisted relatives and associates on government payrolls and diverted their salaries for personal gain.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) says it has uncovered 908 ghost workers across at least 50 federal ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), exposing a payroll fraud scheme that allegedly diverted hundreds of millions of naira from government coffers.
The anti-graft agency said it has recovered about N942 million traced to fraudulent salary payments made to the fictitious employees.
Speaking on the investigation, ICPC Chairman Musa Aliyu said the probe was launched in 2024 after the commission detected irregularities in pension payments. He described ghost workers as individuals whose names are fraudulently inserted into government payrolls despite not being legitimate employees.
According to Aliyu, investigators uncovered cases in which senior public officials allegedly enlisted relatives and associates on government payrolls and diverted their salaries for personal gain.
He cited one suspect who allegedly placed the names of his wife, son and mother-in-law on the payroll while also collecting the salaries of 12 other workers.
The investigation, which covered no fewer than 50 federal MDAs, revealed significant disparities in the number of ghost workers across institutions.
The Nigeria Police Force recorded the highest figure with 570 suspected ghost workers, accounting for more than half of all the cases uncovered.
Other affected agencies include the National Water Resources Authority with 80 ghost workers, the Federal Ministry of Works with 56, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with 24, and the Ministry of Defence with 19.
The Ministry of Power and the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment each recorded 17 ghost workers, while the Federal Ministry of Health had 15. The Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation accounted for 12 cases.
Aliyu added that the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Federal Ministry of Interior also featured in the investigation, although he declined to disclose the number of affected names, saying inquiries into the payroll fraud are still ongoing.