Ihechi Enyinnaya
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) says it has uncovered 908 suspected ghost workers across at least 50 federal ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), recovering about N942 million allegedly paid out as fraudulent salaries.
ICPC Chairman, Musa Adamu Aliyu (SAN) disclosed the findings during an update on the commission’s ongoing investigation into payroll fraud in federal government institutions.
According to Aliyu, the Nigeria Police Force recorded the highest number of suspected ghost workers, with 570 names identified during the payroll verification exercise.
He said the National Water Resources Authority followed with 80 suspected fake workers, while the Federal Ministry of Works had 56. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recorded 24, and the Ministry of Defence had 19 suspected ghost workers.
The ICPC also identified 17 suspected fake workers each in the Federal Ministry of Electricity and the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, while the Federal Ministry of Health had 15 and the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation recorded 12.
Although the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Federal Ministry of Interior were also affected, the commission did not disclose the number of suspected ghost workers linked to the two institutions.
Aliyu explained that ghost workers are fictitious names inserted into government payrolls to fraudulently receive salaries. He cited one case in which a suspect allegedly placed the names of his wife, son and mother-in-law on the payroll while also collecting the salaries of 12 legitimate workers.
The ICPC said the payroll fraud investigation, which began in 2024, is still ongoing, with further recoveries and prosecutions expected as inquiries continue.