Tinubu Orders Forensic Audit of IPPIS, Federal Agencies Over Ghost Workers

President Bola Tinubu has ordered a comprehensive forensic audit of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) and all Federal Government agencies following findings of ghost workers, fake agencies and other control failures.

The directive was disclosed in a statement issued on Friday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.

The audit will be supervised by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, and will examine government payroll, personnel, pension and financial management systems.

The decision followed the resolution of the Federal Executive Council on August 19, 2026, which came after findings by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on irregular government agencies and ghost workers.

According to the statement, the exercise is intended to determine the extent of weaknesses in government controls and how such loopholes may have been exploited.

The first phase will focus on IPPIS and related government platforms. It will investigate reported cases of ghost workers and payroll fraud, reconcile figures identified by the ICPC and trace how fictitious or ineligible persons gained entry into the payroll system.

Auditors will also examine access, identity, biometric and bank-account controls used in verifying government employees.

The review will extend to the links between IPPIS and other government financial platforms, including the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), Remita, the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and Sub-Treasury Account.

The government said the exercise would establish whether fraudulent activities resulted from weaknesses in the systems, failures in administrative processes, poor separation of duties or deliberate circumvention of existing controls.

The second component will cover ministries, departments, agencies, commissions, councils, parastatals and other bodies established by the Federal Government.

The audit team is expected to compile a definitive list of government entities and verify the legal basis for their existence.

It will also investigate how such bodies obtain official recognition, budgetary provisions, government office facilities, correspondence privileges and access to government systems and resources.

Governance, procurement, internal audit and oversight mechanisms will equally come under scrutiny as the administration seeks to identify and close gaps that could enable irregular entities or individuals to benefit from public funds.

Tinubu directed that the exercise be carried out with “the highest standards of independence, professionalism and forensic integrity.”

The audit team will have access to relevant government records and systems and is expected to work with the ICPC so that the review complements ongoing investigations, prosecutions and recovery efforts.

The President, according to the statement, wants the exercise to go beyond exposing individual cases of fraud or administrative failure.

Rather, the administration wants the audit to strengthen government systems, improve data verification and reconciliation, tighten accountability and ensure that only legally recognised entities and eligible personnel have access to public resources.

The exercise is part of the administration’s broader effort to strengthen fiscal management and institutional controls across the Federal Government.

Onanuga said the audit underscores Tinubu’s commitment to “transparency, accountability, fiscal governance and institutional integrity” in the management of public resources.