PRESIDENT TINUBU ORDERS FORENSIC AUDIT OF IPPIS AND FEDERAL AGENCIES AFTER ICPC GHOST-WORKER FINDINGS
President Bola Tinubu has ordered a wide forensic audit of Federal Government payroll and agency controls, after the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) reported fake agencies, ghost workers and other control failures.
The President directed Finance Minister and Co-ordinating Minister of the Economy Taiwo Oyedele to run the exercise. The order follows a Federal Executive Council decision on 19 August 2026.
The audit has two parts.
The first is a forensic review of government systems, especially the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) and related payroll, personnel, pension and financial platforms.
Investigators are to look at reported ghost workers and payroll fraud, reconcile ICPC figures, trace how ineligible names got onto the payroll, and test identity, biometric and bank-account controls. They will also map how IPPIS talks to GIFMIS, Remita, the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and Sub-TSA, to see whether leaks came from software, weak processes, poor separation of duties, or deliberate bypass.
The second part covers federal agencies, departments, commissions, councils, parastatals and other government bodies. The team is to produce a definitive list of those bodies, confirm their legal basis, and check how entities obtain official status, budget lines, correspondence rights, offices and access to government systems.
Governance, procurement, internal audit and oversight will be reviewed to shut gaps that let irregular outfits or people tap public money.
President Tinubu said the work must meet high standards of independence and forensic integrity. The team is to have access to relevant systems and records and to work with the ICPC so the audit supports investigations, prosecutions and recoveries already under way.
