President Bola Tinubu has ordered a comprehensive forensic audit of IPPIS and Federal Government agencies following ICPC findings involving alleged ghost workers, fake agencies and weaknesses in government control systems.
President Bola Tinubu has ordered a comprehensive forensic audit of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), Federal Government agencies and other key administrative and financial control systems following concerns over ghost workers, alleged fake agencies and systemic weaknesses.
The audit, which will be overseen and coordinated by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, is expected to examine vulnerabilities in government payroll, personnel, pension and financial-management systems.
The directive followed a resolution reached by the Federal Executive Council on August 19, 2026, in response to findings by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) concerning alleged fake government entities, ghost workers and failures in internal controls. The Presidency announced the comprehensive exercise on August 28, 2026.
The audit will be carried out through two interconnected components aimed at identifying weaknesses in government systems and determining how they may have been exploited.
The first component will focus on a forensic examination of IPPIS and related payroll, personnel, pension and financial-management platforms.
According to the Presidency, the exercise will investigate reported cases of ghost workers and payroll fraud, reconcile figures identified by the ICPC and trace how fictitious or ineligible persons may have gained access to government payroll systems.
It will also review identity verification, biometric records, access controls and bank-account procedures to establish whether identified irregularities resulted from weaknesses in existing safeguards.
Beyond IPPIS, the audit will examine its interfaces with other major government financial platforms, including the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), Remita, the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and Sub-TSA.
Investigators are expected to determine whether fraud and other irregularities resulted from system defects, process failures, inadequate segregation of duties or deliberate circumvention of established controls.
The second component of the exercise will extend to Federal Government ministries, departments, agencies, commissions, councils, parastatals and other public bodies.
The review will establish a definitive inventory of government entities and verify the legal basis for their existence. It will also examine how organisations obtain official recognition, budgetary consideration, correspondence privileges, office facilities and access to government systems.
The forensic audit will further assess governance, procurement, internal-audit and oversight mechanisms across the Federal Government to identify and close weaknesses that could allow irregular entities or unauthorised persons access to public resources.
President Tinubu directed that the exercise be conducted with the highest standards of independence, professionalism and forensic integrity.
The audit team will be granted access to relevant government systems and records and will collaborate with the ICPC to ensure the exercise complements ongoing investigations, prosecutions and recovery efforts.
The President said the review should go beyond identifying individual cases of fraud or administrative failure and instead strengthen the broader architecture of government.
The expected outcome includes closing systemic loopholes, improving data verification and reconciliation, reinforcing accountability and ensuring that only legally constituted entities and eligible personnel have access to government resources.
The directive underscores the Tinubu administration’s renewed focus on transparency, accountability, fiscal governance and institutional integrity across Federal Government institutions. The State House also published the directive as part of its official presidential communications.
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