President Bola Tinubu has ordered a forensic investigation into the processes, accounting systems and administrative controls that allowed fake government agencies to be created and operated.
The investigation will also review the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) to determine whether fictitious employees may have been captured on the government payroll.
The directive followed a briefing on the investigation into a fake agency identified as the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents on decisions taken at Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council meeting.
Oyedele said the Council directed that a forensic investigation be conducted to examine the procedures and internal control weaknesses that allowed the fake agency and other irregularities to occur.
He said his office would work with the Attorney-General of the Federation and other relevant government institutions to address the issue comprehensively.
“There is the administrative part of it. There is the accounting part of it. But overall, there is the governance part of it,” Oyedele said.
IPPIS to Be Reviewed for Fake Employees
Oyedele said Tinubu specifically directed that the investigation should extend to IPPIS because the discovery of fake agencies raised concerns about the possible existence of fake employees on the government payroll.
“If you have fake agencies, you most likely have fake employees,” the minister said.
He stressed that the government could not afford to have fictitious personnel receiving salaries, particularly as the administration continues to increase wages and allowances for genuine civil servants.
According to Oyedele, fake personnel on the payroll could undermine the government’s ability to properly pay legitimate workers.
He also disclosed that the Federal Government had spent between ₦9.4 trillion and ₦9.5 trillion on incremental salary and allowance payments to civil servants.
The minister said the amount was significantly higher than the savings that accrued to the Federal Government from the removal of the petrol subsidy.
He explained that the government therefore did not want its finances further constrained by fake agencies or fictitious personnel.
“This is something we take very seriously,” Oyedele said.
He added that Nigerians would receive updates as the investigation progresses.
How the Fake Agency Was Created
Oyedele explained that the investigation would involve relevant government institutions working together to determine what went wrong and strengthen existing controls.
Clarifying who he referred to as “we” when discussing the fake agency, the minister said he meant the Federal Government collectively.
He explained that an individual or group allegedly working with collaborators managed to create a fake agency and establish an office for it within a government institution.
The individuals were also able to register the entity and obtain both a trading code and a Treasury Single Account (TSA) code.
However, Oyedele said no money had been paid into the accounts as of the time of the handover.
He said the purpose of the investigation was therefore to establish exactly how the breach occurred and strengthen the system to prevent similar incidents.
ICPC Investigation Uncovered More Fake Agencies
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, provided additional details about the discovery.
Idris said Tinubu had initially referred the matter to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) for investigation.
According to him, the ICPC conducted its investigation and submitted its findings to the President.
The report, Idris said, indicated that the issue went beyond the fake agency initially being investigated.
He disclosed that the investigation identified at least two additional fake agencies.
Idris said the matter involved not only accounting concerns but also weaknesses in the government’s administrative systems.
As a result, Tinubu directed the Attorney-General of the Federation and the Minister of Finance to work together to examine the defective processes and accounting systems and identify the lapses that made the irregularities possible.
Professional Auditors to Examine System
Idris said the President also directed that professional auditors be engaged to examine both the accounting and administrative aspects of the matter.
The objective, he explained, is to obtain a comprehensive forensic assessment of the system and identify weaknesses that need to be corrected.
The exercise is also intended to permanently close the loopholes that allowed the fake agencies to emerge.
Idris described the objective as “plugging” the loopholes so that Nigeria would not experience another national embarrassment of the same nature.
FG Investigating Whether Problem Predates Tinubu
The Information Minister also said the irregularities might not have originated under the current administration.
According to Idris, it was possible that some of the issues dated back to before Tinubu assumed office.
He said the President was therefore looking beyond the immediate case to determine whether similar situations could have occurred elsewhere within government.
The broader objective, Idris explained, is to identify the weaknesses and establish safeguards that would prevent such practices from recurring.
When asked to name the additional fake agencies discovered by the ICPC and explain their consequences, the officials said they could not provide those details during the briefing.
Source: Federal Executive Council briefing
