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The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has uncovered 908 ghost workers across several federal ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), recovering about ₦942 million allegedly paid out through the fraudulent payroll scheme.
ICPC Chairman, Musa Aliyu, disclosed the findings while speaking on the outcome of the commission’s investigation, according to BBC Pidgin. He explained that the probe began in 2024 after irregularities were detected in pension payments.
Aliyu said investigations revealed that some senior public officials allegedly inserted the names of relatives and associates into government payrolls and diverted the salaries for personal use.
He disclosed that one suspect allegedly enrolled his wife, son and mother-in-law as government workers while also collecting the salaries of 12 other fictitious employees.
According to him, the investigation covered at least 50 federal MDAs, with the Nigeria Police Force recording the highest number of ghost workers at 570.
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He said the National Water Resources Authority had 80 ghost workers, while the Federal Ministry of Works recorded 56.
Aliyu added that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had 24, the Ministry of Defence 19, while both the Ministry of Power and the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment recorded 17 each.
He further disclosed that the Federal Ministry of Health had 15 ghost workers, while the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation recorded 12.
The ICPC chairman also said ghost workers were uncovered in the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Ministry of Interior, although he declined to disclose the figures for those institutions, noting that investigations are still ongoing.
The commission described ghost workers as individuals whose names are illegally added to government payrolls despite not being legitimate employees, allowing fraudsters to siphon public funds through fictitious salary payments.
