[Nigeria] Final forfeiture order to recover N941.9m from IPPIS ghost workers

In Nigeria, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has secured a final forfeiture order for N941,994,079.86 allegedly linked to a ‘ghost worker’ fraud, The Guardian reports.

The fraud was discovered during investigations into the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).

Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court in Abuja reportedly granted the order after an ex parte application was filed by the ICPC on behalf of the Federal Government, seeking the forfeiture of the funds believed to be proceeds of unlawful activities.

The ruling followed an extensive investigation into payroll fraud which allegedly involved hundreds of fictitious public servants across several Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

According to the ICPC, it published the names of 910 suspected beneficiaries of the alleged fraud in Daily Trust and The Punch newspapers on March 18, 2026, as part of the legal process, and invited anyone with legitimate claims to the funds to come forward.

The commission stated that the investigation originated from a 2023 systems study that uncovered widespread irregularities in IPPIS and revealed numerous ghost workers embedded in government institutions’ payrolls.

In the wake of the findings, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu approved a comprehensive audit of the payroll platform, leading to a joint investigation by the ICPC and the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) in April 2024.

That investigation uncovered 587 suspected ghost workers on the IPPIS platform. The commission said it had revealed that fictitious IPPIS identities had been created for non-existent personnel across multiple MDAs, with salaries allegedly paid over several years into bank accounts belonging to individuals and companies. 

In several instances, account names did not correspond with those of the purported employees, while some accounts allegedly received multiple salary payments simultaneously. To preserve the suspected proceeds of crime, the ICPC reportedly put Post No Debit (PND) restrictions on the identified accounts between August and November 2024, freezing funds totalling N941.9 million.

Source: The Guardian

In Nigeria, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has secured a final forfeiture order for N941,994,079.86 allegedly linked to a ‘ghost worker’ fraud, The Guardian reports.

The fraud was discovered during investigations into the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).

Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court in Abuja reportedly granted the order after an ex parte application was filed by the ICPC on behalf of the Federal Government, seeking the forfeiture of the funds believed to be proceeds of unlawful activities.

The ruling followed an extensive investigation into payroll fraud which allegedly involved hundreds of fictitious public servants across several Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

According to the ICPC, it published the names of 910 suspected beneficiaries of the alleged fraud in Daily Trust and The Punch newspapers on March 18, 2026, as part of the legal process, and invited anyone with legitimate claims to the funds to come forward.

The commission stated that the investigation originated from a 2023 systems study that uncovered widespread irregularities in IPPIS and revealed numerous ghost workers embedded in government institutions’ payrolls.

In the wake of the findings, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu approved a comprehensive audit of the payroll platform, leading to a joint investigation by the ICPC and the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) in April 2024.

That investigation uncovered 587 suspected ghost workers on the IPPIS platform. The commission said it had revealed that fictitious IPPIS identities had been created for non-existent personnel across multiple MDAs, with salaries allegedly paid over several years into bank accounts belonging to individuals and companies. 

In several instances, account names did not correspond with those of the purported employees, while some accounts allegedly received multiple salary payments simultaneously. To preserve the suspected proceeds of crime, the ICPC reportedly put Post No Debit (PND) restrictions on the identified accounts between August and November 2024, freezing funds totalling N941.9 million.

Source: The Guardian