Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered a forensic audit of Nigeria’s payroll system, directing a full‑scale review of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) and related financial platforms after reports of ghost workers and phantom agencies.
Scope of the review
The first phase will concentrate on IPPIS, pension registers and other personnel‑management tools. Investigators will match names on the payroll against data supplied by the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), looking for entries that lack biometric or bank‑account verification.
Systems that link IPPIS to the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), the Remita payment gateway and the Treasury Single Account (TSA) will also be examined. The goal is to spot whether weak authentication, shared passwords or missing separation of duties allowed fictitious profiles to slip through.
A second component expands the focus beyond payroll. A full inventory of ministries, agencies, commissions, councils and parastatals will be compiled, then cross‑checked with legal statutes to confirm each entity’s legitimacy.
The review will trace how bodies obtain budget allocations, office space and access to central financial databases.
Authorities will also audit internal audit arrangements, governance structures and oversight mechanisms, searching for procedural gaps that could be exploited.
They will report findings to the president.
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Administration’s plan for implementation
Finance Minister Taiwo Oyedele has been tasked with supervising the effort, according to a statement from the presidential spokesperson. The directive follows a Federal Executive Council resolution dated August 19, 2026, which cited earlier findings of irregularities.
The forensic team will operate with “the highest standards of independence and professionalism,” the presidency said. It will receive full access to relevant databases and will coordinate with the ICPC to complement ongoing investigations and prosecutions.
While the primary aim is to pinpoint individual fraud cases, officials stress that the exercise is intended to reinforce the public‑sector control architecture. Expected outcomes include tighter data verification, stronger accountability and assurance that only legally recognised bodies and eligible staff can draw on public funds.
The move arrives as the administration pushes broader fiscal reforms aimed at curbing wasteful spending.
Stakeholders await the results.
Looking ahead, the review could reveal whether the anomalies stem from outdated technology, administrative slip‑ups or deliberate attempts to bypass controls.
