Ghost workers: Civil servants enrolled hotel, family members on govt payroll — ICPC chair

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has uncovered a payroll fraud scheme in which a public servant allegedly enrolled 14 family members as government workers, while a private hotel was also listed on the payroll as a public employee.

The ICPC Chairman, Musa Aliyu, disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja at the 4th Economic Confidential Lecture and National Spokesperson Award.

Aliyu said investigations into ghost workers had exposed several cases of individuals manipulating government payroll systems to insert relatives and other beneficiaries who did not work in the agencies where they were listed as employees.

According to him, one person allegedly enrolled 14 members of his family on the public payroll, while another inserted his wife, daughter, son and in-law as government workers.

In another case, the ICPC chairman said investigators discovered that a hotel had been registered as a public officer and was receiving salaries from government funds.

He also disclosed that one individual was found to be collecting 13 different salaries through fraudulent payroll arrangements.

Aliyu said the discoveries demonstrated the scale of payroll fraud and the financial losses it imposed on government, while also denying qualified Nigerians genuine employment opportunities.

He explained that the impact of ghost workers extended beyond salaries, as fraudulent beneficiaries could also trigger deductions for pensions, housing funds and health insurance.

The ICPC chairman said the commission had commenced legal proceedings against suspected ghost workers, including obtaining interim court orders involving about 900 names published in two national newspapers.

He said the individuals were given the opportunity to prove that they were genuine public servants.

Aliyu further disclosed that the commission’s interventions had contributed to the recovery of more than N24bn linked to ghost workers’ pension payments in 2024.

He added that investigations had also led to the movement of more than N100m from accounts associated with suspected ghost workers.

The ICPC chairman stressed that preventing corruption and blocking avenues for public funds to be diverted was more effective than waiting for money to be stolen before attempting recovery.