Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has uncovered widespread manipulation of government payroll systems, including cases involving ghost workers, multiple salaries and fictitious employees, its Chairman, Dr Musa Adamu Aliyu (SAN), has said.
Aliyu disclosed this on Thursday August 13 in Abuja while delivering the keynote address at the 2026 Economic Confidential Lecture and National Spokespersons Award, organised by Image Merchants Promotions Limited.
He said investigations by the commission revealed instances in which individuals allegedly inserted family members into government payrolls and collected multiple salaries.
According to him, one official enrolled 14 members of his family on the government payroll, while another allegedly received 13 salaries after enrolling his wife, children and other relatives.
“We discovered that one person enrolled 14 members of his family. He lived in a religious hotel, a hotel at the public office, receiving salaries,” Aliyu said.
The ICPC chairman said the commission had also identified about 900 suspected ghost workers and published their names to give the affected individuals an opportunity to prove that they were genuine employees.
He said the commission subsequently spent about a year investigating the cases and uncovering how fictitious names were inserted into government payroll systems.
Aliyu explained that in some instances, the names and email addresses of alleged ghost workers appeared on official payroll records, while the bank accounts linked to the salaries belonged to other individuals.
“When they insert their names, you will see their name in the payroll. You will see their email. But when you check the account number, you will see the name of the person. So, that is how these things have been done,” he said.
He warned that the financial implications of payroll fraud extended beyond the payment of salaries, as fictitious employees could also generate fraudulent claims for pensions, housing and health insurance benefits.
“Once there is a ghost worker, there is ghost pension, there is ghost mortgage, there is ghost housing fund, there is ghost health insurance,” he said.
Aliyu also disclosed that the commission recovered more than N24 billion in suspected ghost workers’ pension funds in 2024.
He said the ICPC had intensified collaboration with other government agencies and adopted preventive measures to block leakages and recover public funds.
The chairman said the commission was increasingly prioritising corruption prevention and ensuring that government projects were properly executed, rather than relying solely on criminal prosecution.
“It is better for us to do that than to engage in filing criminal charges. How many charges can we file?” he asked.
Aliyu said 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 public expenditure.
He also called for greater deployment of data and technology in the fight against corruption, noting that effective communication and access to reliable information were critical to building public confidence in anti-corruption efforts.
