The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has uncovered an alleged payroll racket in which a government official reportedly placed 14 family members on the public payroll.
The anti-corruption agency also found another case involving an individual who allegedly registered his wife, children and other relatives as government employees and received 13 salaries.
The ICPC Chairman, Musa Aliyu, revealed the findings on Thursday in Abuja at the 2026 Economic Confidential Lecture and National Spokespersons Award organised by Image Merchants Promotions Limited.
Aliyu said the commission’s investigation into ghost workers exposed various ways through which public payroll systems were allegedly manipulated to siphon government funds.
He disclosed that about 900 suspected ghost workers had been identified, with their names made public to give them an opportunity to establish that they were legitimate employees.
According to him, the investigation took approximately one year and uncovered discrepancies between payroll information and bank account details attached to some supposed workers.
Aliyu explained that some fictitious employees had names and email addresses appearing on official payroll records, while the bank accounts linked to them belonged to different individuals.
He warned that the impact of ghost workers could go beyond salary payments, as fraudulent identities could also generate claims for pensions, mortgages, housing schemes and health insurance.
The ICPC chairman said the commission recovered over N24bn in ghost pension funds in 2024, describing the recovery as part of efforts to stop public resources from being diverted.
He said the agency was placing greater emphasis on preventive interventions designed to block corruption before public funds were lost, rather than depending entirely on prosecution.
Aliyu stressed that preventing financial leakages was more effective than waiting for fraudulent transactions to occur before commencing criminal proceedings.
He added that the ICPC had, through interventions in government projects and other sectors, recovered or protected public resources for the benefit of Nigerians.
The chairman also called for increased deployment of technology and credible data in anti-corruption efforts, saying effective access to information remained critical to detecting fraud and improving public trust in government institutions.