TINUBU DECLARES WAR ON GHOST WORKERS, FAKE AGENCIES — ORDERS FORENSIC AUDIT OF IPPIS, FG SYSTEMS President demands sweeping probe of payroll, agencies and financial controls as ICPC findings expose systemic loopholes By Okwo Romeon Abuja

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered a comprehensive forensic audit of the Federal Government’s payroll, personnel and administrative systems following revelations of ghost workers, alleged payroll fraud and the existence of improperly constituted government entities.

The President has directed the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, to oversee the exercise, which will scrutinise the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), federal ministries, departments and agencies, as well as the internal controls governing access to public resources.

The directive follows a resolution of the Federal Executive Council on 19 August 2026, prompted by findings from the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) concerning “fake agencies”, ghost workers and other weaknesses in government control systems.

The audit is expected not merely to identify individual cases of fraud but to establish how weaknesses within the Federal Government’s systems have been exploited and to recommend measures capable of preventing their recurrence.

A major component of the exercise will focus on IPPIS and related payroll, personnel, pension and financial-management platforms. Auditors will investigate reported cases of ghost workers and payroll irregularities, reconcile figures identified by the ICPC and trace how fictitious or ineligible persons were enrolled on government systems.

The review will also examine identity verification, biometric records, bank-account controls and system access procedures to determine whether fraudulent entries resulted from technological defects, administrative failures, inadequate separation of duties or deliberate circumvention of established controls.

Particular attention will be paid to the links between IPPIS and other government financial platforms, including the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), Remita, the Treasury Single Account and Sub-Treasury Single Account.

The second arm of the audit will extend across the entire Federal Government, covering ministries, departments, agencies, commissions, councils, parastatals and other government bodies.

It will seek to establish a definitive inventory of government entities and verify the legal basis for their existence, while examining how such bodies obtain official recognition, budgetary allocations, correspondence privileges, office accommodation and access to government systems.

The exercise will further assess governance, procurement, internal audit and oversight arrangements across the public service, with the aim of identifying and closing loopholes that could enable irregular entities or individuals to gain access to public funds and other government resources.

President Tinubu has instructed that the audit be conducted to the highest standards of independence, professionalism and forensic integrity.

The audit team will have access to relevant government records and systems and is expected to work with the ICPC so that the exercise complements ongoing investigations, prosecutions and recovery efforts.

The presidency said the review was designed to go beyond exposing isolated cases of fraud or administrative failure.

Instead, it would seek to strengthen the architecture of government, improve data verification and reconciliation, tighten accountability mechanisms and ensure that only legally constituted entities and eligible personnel have access to public resources.

The exercise, according to the presidency, forms part of Tinubu’s broader effort to strengthen transparency, fiscal governance, accountability and institutional integrity across the Federal Government.