Police lead federal agencies in ICPC’s ghost worker crackdown

A sweeping payroll audit by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has exposed what investigators describe as one of the most extensive suspected ghost worker schemes within Nigeria’s public service, with the Nigeria Police Force emerging as the federal institution recording the highest number of questionable salary recipients.

The nationwide verification exercise, which covered at least 50 federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), uncovered 908 suspected ghost workers and led to the recovery of approximately N942 million believed to have been fraudulently paid as salaries, highlighting the scale of payroll manipulation still confronting the Federal Government despite years of reforms.

The findings, disclosed by ICPC Chairman Musa Adamu Aliyu (SAN), have renewed concerns over the integrity of Nigeria’s public payroll system and raised fresh questions about internal controls within some of the country’s most critical institutions.

Police Top List of Suspected Payroll Fraud Cases

Speaking on the commission’s ongoing investigation into payroll fraud, Aliyu revealed that the Nigeria Police Force accounted for the largest number of suspected ghost workers identified during the exercise.

According to him, investigators flagged 570 individuals believed to be receiving government salaries despite allegedly not being legitimate employees.

“For this operation, we identified 570 people whom we suspect are among the fake workers collecting salaries without working,” the ICPC chairman said.

The figure represents well over half of all suspected ghost workers uncovered during the nationwide verification, placing the police at the centre of the commission’s latest anti-corruption investigation.

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The disclosure is expected to intensify scrutiny of payroll administration within the police, one of Nigeria’s largest public institutions with hundreds of thousands of personnel spread across the country.

Audit Covers More Than 50 Federal Institutions

The ICPC said the investigation extended across 50 MDAs, where investigators compared payroll records with employee verification data to identify irregularities.

The anti-graft agency explained that ghost workers are fictitious or non-existent employees whose names are illegally inserted into government payroll systems, enabling corrupt officials to divert public funds through fraudulent salary payments.

Investigators also found evidence suggesting that some public officials allegedly recruited family members and associates into government payroll databases despite their not being employed by the affected institutions.

Aliyu cited one particularly striking case currently under investigation.

According to him, one suspect allegedly enrolled his wife, son and mother-in-law on the government payroll while also collecting salaries belonging to 12 legitimate government employees.

The case, the commission noted, illustrates how payroll systems can be manipulated through insider access where adequate oversight mechanisms are weak.

Other Ministries Also Affected

Beyond the police, several ministries and federal institutions were also identified as having suspected irregular payroll entries.

According to the ICPC:

An unnamed federal agency recorded 80 suspected ghost workers.

The Federal Ministry of Works had 56 suspected fictitious employees.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recorded 24 suspected ghost workers.

The Ministry of Defence accounted for 19 questionable payroll entries.

The Federal Ministry of Electricity and the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment each recorded 17 suspected fake workers.

The Federal Ministry of Health had 15 suspected ghost workers.

The Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation recorded 12 suspected fictitious employees.

The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Federal Ministry of Interior also featured in the investigation, although the commission did not disclose the number of suspected ghost workers linked to those institutions.

Billions Lost Through Payroll Manipulation

While the commission announced the recovery of N942 million, analysts believe the financial implications of payroll fraud could extend far beyond the amount already recovered if additional investigations uncover long-running schemes.

Ghost worker fraud has remained one of the most persistent forms of financial misconduct within Nigeria’s public sector, despite repeated reforms including the introduction of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) and other digital verification initiatives aimed at eliminating fictitious salary payments.

Successive administrations have launched payroll verification exercises intended to cleanse government payrolls, yet fresh discoveries continue to suggest that fraudulent practices evolve alongside new control measures.

The latest revelations are likely to reignite debate over accountability within public institutions and the effectiveness of internal audit systems responsible for detecting payroll irregularities before public funds are lost.

Anti-corruption experts have consistently argued that ghost worker schemes thrive where employee verification, payroll management and supervisory oversight are weak, allowing insiders to manipulate personnel records without immediate detection.

With investigations continuing across multiple agencies, attention is now expected to focus on possible prosecutions, institutional reforms and the recovery of additional public funds allegedly siphoned through fraudulent salary payments.

The ICPC has indicated that its investigations remain ongoing as it seeks to unravel the full extent of the payroll fraud network operating within federal institutions.