The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has uncovered 908 suspected ghost workers across at least 50 federal ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), with the Nigeria Police Force recording the highest number of alleged fake workers.
ICPC Chairman, Musa Adamu Aliyu (SAN), disclosed the findings while speaking on the commission’s ongoing investigation into payroll fraud across federal government institutions, according to a BBC Pidgin report on Wednesday.
The commission said the exercise led to the recovery of about ₦942 million allegedly paid as fraudulent salaries.
Aliyu explained that ghost workers are fictitious names fraudulently inserted into government payrolls to receive salaries. In some instances, public officials allegedly add relatives or associates to the payroll despite not being legitimate employees.
He cited a case involving a suspect who allegedly placed the names of his wife, son and mother-in-law on the government payroll while also collecting the salaries of 12 other workers.
According to the ICPC chairman, the Nigeria Police Force accounted for the highest number of suspected ghost workers, with 570 names identified during the verification exercise.
The National Water Resources Authority followed with 80 suspected fake workers, while the Federal Ministry of Works recorded 56. The Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs had 24 suspected ghost workers, while the Ministry of Defence recorded 19.
The Federal Ministry of Electricity and the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment each recorded 17 suspected ghost workers, while the Federal Ministry of Health had 15. The Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation recorded 12 suspected fake workers.
While the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Federal Ministry of Interior were also listed among the affected institutions, the ICPC did not disclose the number of suspected ghost workers identified in the two offices. The commission said investigations into the payroll fraud are continuing.
