The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has uncovered 908 ghost workers in several federal ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), exposing a payroll fraud scheme that allegedly siphoned hundreds of millions of naira from government funds.
The commission said it has recovered about N942 million suspected to have been illegally paid as salaries to the fictitious employees.
ICPC Chairman Musa Aliyu disclosed that the discovery was made during an investigation launched in 2024 after the agency identified irregularities in pension payments.
The Leader Nigeria reports that the probe into the pension discrepancies eventually led investigators to uncover the large-scale payroll fraud involving hundreds of non-existent workers across multiple government institutions.
The commission explained that ghost workers are people whose names are illegally inserted into government payroll systems despite not being genuine employees.
Aliyu said investigators uncovered cases in which senior government officials allegedly enrolled family members and close associates on payrolls, diverting the salary payments for personal use.
He said one suspect allegedly added the names of his wife, son and mother-in-law to the payroll while also collecting the salaries of 12 other workers.
The ICPC chairman stated that the investigation covered at least 50 ministries, departments and agencies, with some institutions recording far higher numbers of ghost workers than others.
The Nigeria Police Force recorded the highest figure, with 570 suspected ghost workers.
Aliyu said the National Water Resources Authority had 80 ghost workers, while the Federal Ministry of Works recorded 56.
He added that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had 24, the Ministry of Defence had 19, while both the Ministry of Power and the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment had 17 each.
The Federal Ministry of Health accounted for 15 ghost workers, while the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation recorded 12.
Aliyu further disclosed that the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Ministry of Interior were also affected by the payroll fraud, but noted that the exact number of ghost workers in those institutions has not yet been released as investigations are still ongoing.
