By Ado Oyeyemi
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has uncovered alleged payroll fraud involving a government official accused of placing 14 members of his family on the public payroll.
The anti-corruption agency also identified another individual who allegedly enrolled his wife, children and other relatives as government workers and received 13 salaries.
The ICPC Chairman, Musa Aliyu, disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja while delivering a keynote address at the 2026 Economic Confidential Lecture and National Spokespersons Award organised by Image Merchants Promotions Limited.
Aliyu said investigations into alleged ghost workers had exposed various methods used to manipulate government payroll systems and divert public funds through multiple salaries.
According to him, the commission discovered a case in which one individual allegedly registered 14 family members as government employees.
He said the ICPC had identified about 900 suspected ghost workers and published their names, challenging those affected to establish that they were genuine employees.
The chairman said the investigation lasted about a year and revealed how fictitious identities were allegedly inserted into government payroll databases.
Aliyu explained that in some cases, the names and email addresses of supposed employees appeared on payroll records, while the bank account details were linked to different individuals.
He warned that payroll fraud could extend beyond salaries, creating fictitious beneficiaries for pensions, mortgages, housing funds and health insurance schemes.
The ICPC chairman disclosed that the commission recovered more than N24bn allegedly tied to ghost pension arrangements in 2024.
Aliyu said the commission was increasingly prioritising preventive measures and interventions aimed at protecting public resources rather than depending solely on criminal prosecution.
He argued that preventing the loss of public funds was more effective than waiting to prosecute every case of corruption.
The ICPC boss said the commission had recovered or protected government resources through interventions in public projects and other areas, stressing that its priority was to ensure that public funds translated into tangible benefits for Nigerians.
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He also advocated greater deployment of data and technology in the fight against corruption, saying access to accurate and reliable information was crucial to improving transparency and strengthening public confidence in anti-corruption efforts.
