President Bola Tinubu has ordered a comprehensive forensic audit of Federal Government payroll systems and agencies following concerns over ghost workers, alleged fake agencies and other control failures.
The directive was announced by presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga on Friday, following a Federal Executive Council resolution of August 19, 2026, based on findings by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, will oversee the audit, which will focus on identifying weaknesses in government systems and determining how they may have been exploited.
A major part of the exercise will examine the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) and related payroll, personnel, pension and financial-management platforms. Investigators will review reported ghost-worker cases, payroll fraud, identity and biometric controls, bank-account verification and how fictitious or ineligible individuals were enrolled.
The audit will also examine links between IPPIS and other government platforms, including GIFMIS, Remita, the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and Sub-TSA, to determine whether irregularities resulted from system weaknesses, process failures or deliberate circumvention.
The second part of the audit will cover Federal Government ministries, departments, agencies, commissions, councils, parastatals and other government bodies. The government wants to establish a definitive list of recognised entities and verify their legal status.
Officials will also examine how government bodies obtain recognition, receive budgetary allocations, access public facilities and gain entry into government systems.
Onanuga said the exercise would also assess governance, procurement, internal audit and oversight procedures to identify loopholes that could allow irregular entities or individuals to benefit from public resources.
The President directed that the audit be carried out with independence and forensic integrity, with the team given access to relevant government records and systems.
The audit team will also work with the ICPC so that its findings complement existing investigations, prosecutions and asset recovery efforts.
According to the Presidency, Tinubu wants the exercise to go beyond identifying individual cases of fraud and instead strengthen government systems, improve verification and accountability, and ensure that only legitimate agencies and eligible personnel have access to public resources.
Source: The Presidency.
