Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) says it has uncovered 908 fake workers across several federal ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), in a payroll fraud that allegedly siphoned hundreds of millions of naira.
ICPC Chairman, Musa Aliyu, SAN, told BBC Pidgin that the discovery followed a nationwide investigation launched in 2024 after the commission detected irregularities in pension payments.
The anti-graft agency said it recovered about N942 million allegedly linked to fraudulent salary payments made to the fictitious employees.
Musa Aliyu, chairman of the ICPC, said the discovery followed an investigation launched by the commission in 2024 after it detected irregularities in pension payments.
The commission described fake workers as individuals whose names are fraudulently inserted into government payrolls despite not being legitimate employees.
Aliyu said the investigation uncovered cases where senior officials allegedly enrolled relatives and associates on payrolls and diverted the salaries for personal benefit.
He said investigators found a suspect who allegedly placed the names of his wife, son and mother-in-law on the payroll while collecting the salaries of 12 other workers.
According to the ICPC chairman, the probe affected at least 50 ministries, departments and agencies, with some institutions recording significantly higher numbers of fake workers than others.
