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, with the Nigeria Police Force recording the highest number of suspected cases in the commission’s payroll verification exercise.
The findings were disclosed by ICPC Chairman Musa Adamu Aliyu (SAN) on Wednesday, 22 July 2026, as the anti-corruption agency intensified efforts to tackle payroll fraud within the Federal Government system.
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The ICPC Ghost Workers Investigation revealed that the commission recovered about ₦942 million allegedly linked to fraudulent salary payments made to fictitious employees.
ICPC defines ghost workers as individuals whose names are unlawfully inserted into government payroll systems to receive salaries despite not working for the institutions listed.
According to Aliyu, investigators discovered cases where public officials allegedly added relatives and associates to payroll records or diverted salaries meant for genuine employees.
One case highlighted by the ICPC chairman involved an individual who allegedly placed the names of his wife, son and mother-in-law on a government payroll while also collecting salaries linked to 12 other workers.
The Nigeria Police Force recorded the highest number of suspected ghost workers, with 570 names flagged during the verification 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 fake workers, while the Federal Ministry of Works recorded 56 cases.
Other institutions affected included the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with 24 suspected ghost workers and the Ministry of Defence with 19.
The commission also identified suspected cases in the Federal Ministry of Electricity and the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, each recording 17 names, while the Federal Ministry of Health had 15 suspected cases.
The Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation was also listed among affected institutions, with 12 suspected ghost workers uncovered.
The ICPC said additional investigations were ongoing across other government offices, including the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Federal Ministry of Interior, although figures for those institutions were not disclosed.
The latest findings add to ongoing government efforts to improve transparency in public payroll management and reduce financial leakages.
Payroll fraud has remained a long-standing challenge in Nigeria’s public sector, with previous verification exercises leading to the removal of thousands of unverified names from government salary systems.
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ICPC said the exercise would continue as part of broader measures to strengthen accountability and ensure public funds are directed towards legitimate government employees and essential services.
Ibrahim Onipede is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering news, public affairs, and human-interest stories.
