The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has revealed that the Nigeria Police Force and five federal ministries and agencies recorded the highest number of suspected ghost workers uncovered during its nationwide payroll verification exercise.
ICPC Chairman Musa Adamu Aliyu (SAN) disclosed the findings while speaking on the commission’s investigation into payroll fraud across federal government institutions, according to a BBC Pidgin report published on Wednesday.
The commission said the exercise uncovered 908 suspected ghost workers across at least 50 ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), leading to the recovery of about ₦942 million allegedly paid out as fraudulent salaries.
The ICPC explained that ghost workers are fictitious names fraudulently added to government payrolls to collect salaries. It noted that, in some instances, public officials allegedly insert the names of relatives or associates into the payroll despite them not being legitimate government employees.
Aliyu said investigators uncovered one case involving a man who allegedly placed the names of his wife, son and mother-in-law on the payroll while also collecting the salaries of 12 workers.
Among the institutions identified, the Nigeria Police Force recorded the highest number of suspected fake workers.
“For this operation, we identified 570 people whom we suspect are among the fake workers collecting salaries without working,” the ICPC chairman said about the police data.
The National Water Resources Authority followed with 80 suspected fake workers.
“For this agency, we identified 80 names of people collecting salaries even though they are not workers of the agency,” Aliyu said.
The Federal Ministry of Works recorded 56 suspected fake workers, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had 24.
The Ministry of Defence was found to have 19 suspected fake workers.
“For the Ministry of Defence, we identified 19 people acting as fake workers,” the ICPC chairman said.
Other affected institutions include the Federal Ministry of Electricity and the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, with 17 suspected fake workers each, the Federal Ministry of Health with 15, and the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation with 12.
The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Federal Ministry of Interior were also listed among institutions affected by the payroll fraud, although the ICPC did not disclose the number of suspected fake workers found in the two offices.
The commission said investigations into the payroll fraud, launched in 2024, are ongoing.
