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From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
President Bola Tinubu has ordered a sweeping forensic audit of the Federal Government’s payroll, personnel and financial management systems, including the controversial Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), following revelations of ghost workers, “fake agencies” and other control failures.
The President also directed the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, to oversee and coordinate the exercise, which is expected to probe how fictitious or ineligible persons and entities gained access to public funds and government systems.
The directive, contained in a statement issued on Friday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, followed the Federal Executive Council’s August 19, 2026 resolution arising from findings by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
The audit is designed not merely to identify individual cases of fraud but to expose and shut down systemic weaknesses within the machinery of government that may have facilitated the diversion or misuse of public resources.
Under the first component of the exercise, investigators will conduct a forensic examination of IPPIS and related payroll, personnel, pension and financial-management platforms.
They will investigate reported cases of ghost workers and payroll fraud, reconcile figures identified by the ICPC and trace how fictitious or ineligible persons were enrolled on government payroll.
The exercise will also scrutinise identity, biometric and bank-account verification systems, as well as access controls, to determine how fraudulent entries were created or sustained.
Of particular interest will be the links between IPPIS and other government financial platforms, including the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), Remita, the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and Sub-TSA.
According to the Presidency, the audit will determine whether the frauds resulted from defects in the systems, process failures, inadequate segregation of duties or the deliberate circumvention of established controls.
The second component will extend the forensic probe beyond payroll to virtually the entire architecture of the Federal Government.
All ministries, departments, agencies, commissions, councils, parastatals and other government bodies will come under review.
The exercise will establish a definitive inventory of government entities and verify the legal basis for their existence.
It will also investigate how entities obtain official recognition, budgetary consideration, correspondence privileges, office facilities and access to government information and financial systems.
The Presidency said the review would further examine governance, procurement, internal audit and oversight mechanisms across government.
This, it said, is aimed at closing loopholes that could allow irregular entities or persons to gain access to public resources.
President Tinubu directed that the audit be conducted with the “highest standards of independence, professionalism and forensic integrity.”
The audit team will have access to relevant government systems and records and will work with the ICPC to ensure that the exercise complements ongoing investigations, prosecutions and recovery efforts.
According to the Presidency, the ultimate objective is to strengthen the architecture of government, improve data verification and reconciliation, reinforce accountability and ensure that only legally constituted entities and eligible personnel can access government resources.
The exercise, Onanuga said, underscores Tinubu’s commitment to transparency, accountability, fiscal governance and institutional integrity across the Federal Government.
