Police top list as ICPC uncovers huge payroll fraud across MDAs

Police top list as ICPC uncovers huge payroll fraud across MDAs

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) says it has uncovered 908 fake workers across several federal ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), in a payroll fraud that allegedly siphoned hundreds of millions of naira.

The anti-graft agency said it recovered about N942 million allegedly linked to fraudulent salary payments made to the fictitious employees.

According to BBC Pidgin, Musa Aliyu, chairman of the ICPC, said the discovery followed an investigation launched by the commission in 2024 after it detected irregularities in pension payments.

The commission described fake workers as individuals whose names are fraudulently inserted into government payrolls despite not being legitimate employees.

Chairman ICPC, Musa Aliyu

Aliyu said the investigation uncovered cases where senior officials allegedly enrolled relatives and associates on payrolls and diverted the salaries for personal benefit.

He said investigators found a suspect who allegedly placed the names of his wife, son and mother-in-law on the payroll while collecting the salaries of 12 other workers.

According to the ICPC chairman, the probe affected at least 50 ministries, departments and agencies, with some institutions recording significantly higher numbers of fake workers than others.

The Nigeria Police Force topped the list with 570 suspected fake workers.

Aliyu said the National Water Resources Authority had 80 fake workers, while the federal ministry of works had 56.

He added that the ministry of foreign affairs recorded 24 fake workers, while the ministry of defence had 19.

The ministry of power and the ministry of industry, trade and investment had 17 fake workers each, the federal ministry of health had 15, and the office of the head of the civil service of the federation had 12.

The ICPC chairman said the office of the accountant-general of the federation and the ministry of interior were also among the agencies where fake workers were uncovered.

However, he did not disclose the number of affected names in those institutions as investigations continue.