ICPC uncovers official who put 14 family members on govt payroll

Nigeria's Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has exposed significant fraud within government payroll systems, uncovering numerous ghost workers. Among the most egregious cases is an official who allegedly enrolled 14 family members onto the government payroll. The ICPC Chairman, Musa Aliyu, revealed these findings while speaking at an event in Abuja.

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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 detailed how individuals manipulated payroll systems to receive multiple salaries. He cited another instance where a person allegedly collected 13 salaries by enrolling family members, including a wife, daughter, and son. The commission has identified approximately 900 suspected ghost workers, publishing their names and challenging them to prove their legitimacy. The ICPC spent a year investigating these cases, uncovering methods used to insert fictitious names into official payrolls.

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Another person enrolled his wife, his daughter, his son, and others and was receiving 13 salaries.

In some instances, ghost workers appeared on payrolls with email addresses, but their bank account details were linked to other individuals. Aliyu warned that the consequences of such fraud extend beyond salaries, potentially leading to ghost pensions, housing, health insurance, and other benefits. He highlighted the economic burden these fraudulent practices place on the country. In 2024 alone, the ICPC recovered over N24 billion in ghost pension funds, underscoring the scale of the problem.

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We now secured income of about 900 ghost workers, which we published their names in papers.