The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has uncovered an alleged payroll fraud involving a government official who reportedly enrolled 14 members of his family as workers and collected public funds through the arrangement.
The ICPC also discovered another case in which an individual allegedly placed his wife, children and other relatives on the government payroll, resulting in the collection of 13 salaries.
The commission’s Chairman, Musa Aliyu, disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja while speaking at the 2026 Economic Confidential Lecture and National Spokespersons Award organised by Image Merchants Promotions Limited.
Aliyu said investigations into ghost workers had revealed how some individuals manipulated payroll systems by inserting fictitious names and diverting salaries to accounts belonging to other persons.
He said the commission had identified about 900 suspected ghost workers and published their names, challenging those affected to establish that they were genuine government employees.
According to him, the investigation lasted about a year and exposed several methods allegedly used to manipulate payroll records.
Aliyu explained that in some instances, the name and email address of a supposed employee appeared on the payroll, but the bank account attached to the record belonged to another individual.
He warned that the consequences of ghost workers extended beyond the payment of salaries, noting that fraudulent names could also be used to access pensions, mortgages, housing benefits and health insurance.
The ICPC boss disclosed that the commission recovered more than N24bn linked to ghost pensioners in 2024 as part of its efforts to protect public funds.
Aliyu said the commission was increasingly prioritising preventive measures and interventions aimed at blocking leakages rather than relying solely on criminal prosecution.
He argued that preventing the loss of public funds was more effective than filing numerous criminal cases after the damage had occurred.
The chairman said the commission had recovered or protected government resources through interventions in public projects and other areas, stressing that the ultimate objective was to ensure that taxpayers benefited from government expenditure.
Aliyu also advocated greater deployment of technology and reliable data in the fight against corruption, saying accurate information would help strengthen transparency and public confidence in anti-graft efforts.