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The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has uncovered 908 suspected ghost workers across 50 ministries, departments and agencies, recovering about N942 million allegedly paid as fraudulent salaries.
According to a BBC Pidgin report on Wednesday, ICPC Chairman, Musa Adamu Aliyu (SAN), disclosed the results during an investigation into payroll fraud across government institutions.
The commission identified the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and five other government ministries and agencies as having the highest number of suspected fake workers.
Aliyu said that ghost workers are fictitious names added to government payrolls to collect salaries illegally.
He said some officials also insert names of relatives and associates who are not government employees.
“One case involved a man who added the names of his wife, son and mother-in-law to the payroll while also collecting the salaries of 12 workers,” the ICPC chairman said.
The NPF recorded the highest number of suspected ghost workers, with 570 names flagged during the exercise.
“For this operation, we identified 570 people whom we suspect are among the fake workers collecting salaries without working,” Aliyu said.
The National Water Resources Authority followed with 80 suspected ghost workers, while the Ministry of Works had 56.
Other institutions affected include the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with 24 suspected fake workers, the Ministry of Defence with 19, and the Ministry of Electricity and the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment with 17 each.
The Ministry of Health had 15 suspected ghost workers, while the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation recorded 12.
The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Ministry of Interior were also listed among affected institutions, although the ICPC did not disclose the number of suspected fake workers found.
The commission said its investigation into payroll fraud, which began in 2024, is still ongoing.
