The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has uncovered 908 ghost workers across several federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), recovering about ₦942 million allegedly lost to the fraudulent payroll scheme.
ICPC Chairman, Musa Aliyu, disclosed that the discovery followed an investigation launched in 2024 after the commission detected irregularities in pension payments.
According to him, the probe exposed a widespread payroll fraud involving the insertion of fictitious names into government salary systems to divert public funds.
Aliyu alleged that some senior public officials enrolled relatives and associates on government payrolls and illegally collected their salaries.
He cited one case where a suspect 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 ICPC chairman said the investigation covered at least 50 federal MDAs, with the Nigeria Police Force recording the highest number of suspected ghost workers at 570.
Other agencies affected 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.
He added that the Ministry of Power and the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment each had 17 suspected ghost workers, while the Federal Ministry of Health recorded 15 and the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation had 12.
Aliyu further disclosed that the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Ministry of Interior were also implicated in the investigation, although the commission withheld the number of affected names in those institutions as investigations continue.
The ICPC said the investigation forms part of its ongoing efforts to sanitise the federal payroll system, eliminate fraud and ensure public funds are protected from abuse.
