Ghost Workers: ICPC Reveals Official Put 14 Relatives on Government Payroll

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has uncovered alleged ghost workers on government payrolls, including an official who reportedly enrolled 14 members of his family and another who allegedly received 13 different salaries.

ICPC Chairman, Musa Aliyu (SAN), disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja while delivering a keynote address at the 2026 Economic Confidential Lecture and National Spokespersons Award organised by Image Merchants Promotions Limited.

Aliyu said the commission’s investigation revealed how individuals manipulated government payroll systems to receive multiple salaries through fictitious employees.

According to him, one official enrolled 14 members of his family on the payroll while another allegedly registered his wife, daughter, son and other relatives, enabling him to collect 13 salaries.

The ICPC chairman also revealed that the commission identified about 900 suspected ghost workers and published their names, challenging them to prove that they were genuine government employees.

He said the commission spent a year investigating the cases and discovered that some fictitious employees had names and email addresses appearing on official payrolls, while their salaries were linked to bank accounts belonging to other individuals.

Aliyu warned that ghost-worker fraud could extend beyond salaries to pensions, housing benefits, health insurance and other government-funded benefits.

He further disclosed that the ICPC recovered more than N24 billion in ghost pension funds in 2024.

The chairman said the commission was increasingly focusing on preventing corruption, protecting public resources and ensuring that government projects were properly executed, rather than relying solely on criminal prosecution.

He also called for greater use of data and technology in combating corruption, stressing that reliable information and effective communication were essential to strengthening public confidence in anti-corruption efforts.

Earlier, the Chief Executive Officer of Image Merchants Promotions Limited, Yusha’u Shuaib, said the lecture was organised to promote transparency, accountability, good governance and professional communication.

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