The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has uncovered cases of alleged payroll fraud involving government officials who reportedly enrolled relatives as employees and collected multiple salaries.
ICPC Chairman, Musa Aliyu, disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja while delivering the keynote address at the 2026 Economic Confidential Lecture and National Spokespersons Award organised by Image Merchants Promotions Limited.
Aliyu revealed that one official allegedly enrolled 14 members of his family on the government payroll, while another registered his wife, children and other relatives and collected 13 salaries.
According to him, the findings emerged from an extensive investigation into ghost workers and payroll manipulation, which lasted about a year.
“We discovered that one person enrolled 14 members of his family,” Aliyu said. The ICPC chairman disclosed that about 900 suspected ghost workers had been identified, with their names published to enable them to establish that they were legitimate government employees.
He explained that some of the fraudulent entries appeared genuine because the names and email addresses were listed on official payroll systems, while the bank account details belonged to different individuals.
Aliyu warned that payroll fraud could extend beyond salaries to other government-funded benefits, including pensions, mortgages, housing funds and health insurance.
“Once there is a ghost worker, there is a ghost pension, there is a ghost mortgage, there is a ghost housing fund, there is ghost health insurance,” he said.
He further disclosed that the commission recovered more than N24 billion in ghost pension funds in 2024 as part of its efforts to protect public resources.
Aliyu said the ICPC was increasingly prioritising preventive measures and interventions over criminal prosecution, arguing that stopping corruption before public funds were lost was more effective.
“It is better for us to do that than to engage in filing criminal charges. How many charges can we file?” he asked.
He added that the commission had recovered or secured government resources through interventions in public projects and other areas, stressing that the ultimate objective was to ensure that Nigerians derived value from government expenditure.
The ICPC chairman also advocated greater reliance on data and technology in the fight against corruption, saying access to reliable information would strengthen transparency, accountability and public confidence in anti-corruption efforts.
Comments
Join the conversation and share your thoughts.
Login Required
Please login to join the conversation and post a comment.