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The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved a forensic investigation into payroll irregularities and the creation of fraudulent government agencies after discovering fake entities that obtained administrative and Treasury Single Account codes, the Minister of Finance said on Wednesday.
Taiwo Oyedele, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, disclosed the decision while briefing State House correspondents after the council meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu.
The investigation will focus on the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) to identify fake agencies and ghost employees, Oyedele said.
“This initiative aims at protecting federal funds and ensuring salaries reach legitimate civil servants. Recent data reveals that ₦9.5 trillion has been allocated to incremental salary and allowance payments, a figure exceeding recent subsidy savings,” Oyedele said.
Oyedele said the meeting addressed “a significant security breach involving the creation of fraudulent agencies within the federal government.”
According to the minister, unauthorised individuals colluded to create a fake government agency which successfully obtained administrative codes and Treasury Single Account (TSA) codes, although no funds were actually disbursed.
“These fake entities successfully obtained administrative and TSA codes, though no funds were disbursed,” he stated.
He claimed that the President found systemic flaws in both accounting and administrative procedures after the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) investigation.
“Consequently, the Attorney General and Minister of Finance have been mandated to engage professional audit firms to conduct forensic evaluation of these systems.
“The objective is to identify existing lapses, plug vulnerabilities, and prevent future occurrences of such national embarrassments by strengthening oversight across all governmental institutions.”
