The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) says it has found 908 ghost workers across several federal ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), recovering about N942 million said to have been paid through the fake payroll scheme.
BBC Pidgin reported that ICPC Chairman Musa Aliyu revealed the findings after an investigation that began in 2024 when the commission noticed irregularities in pension payments.
Aliyu said the probe uncovered widespread payroll fraud, with fake names allegedly added to government salary records to steal public money.
He claimed that some top government officials placed relatives and close associates on the payroll and collected the salaries for themselves.
The ICPC chairman gave an example of a suspect who allegedly added the names of his wife, son and mother-in-law to the payroll while also receiving the salaries meant for 12 other workers.
He said the investigation covered at least 50 federal MDAs, with the Nigeria Police Force recording the highest number of suspected ghost workers at 570.
The National Water Resources Authority had 80 suspected ghost workers, followed by the Federal Ministry of Works with 56. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recorded 24, while the Ministry of Defence had 19.
Aliyu also said the Ministry of Power and the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment each had 17 suspected ghost workers. The Federal Ministry of Health recorded 15, while the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation had 12.
He added that the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Ministry of Interior were also linked to the investigation. However, the commission did not reveal the number of affected names in those institutions because investigations are still ongoing.
