Tinubu orders Forensic Audit of IPPIS, Federal agencies over ghost workers, fraud

By Kazeem Ugbodaga

President Bola Tinubu has directed the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, to coordinate a comprehensive forensic audit of Federal Government systems, including the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) and the operations of federal agencies.

The directive followed the Federal Executive Council’s resolution of August 19, 2026, which was reached in response to findings by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on alleged fake agencies, ghost workers and other control failures within government systems.

Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, disclosed this in a statement on Friday.

Onanuga said the audit would determine the nature and extent of weaknesses in government’s control architecture and establish how such loopholes may have been exploited.

According to him, the exercise will have two interconnected components, with the first focusing on a forensic examination of government systems, particularly IPPIS and related payroll, personnel, pension and financial-management platforms.

“The audit will investigate reported cases of ghost workers and payroll fraud, reconcile figures identified by the ICPC, trace how fictitious or ineligible persons were enrolled and scrutinise access, identity, biometric and bank-account controls.

“It will also examine the interfaces between IPPIS and other government platforms, including the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), Remita, the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and Sub-TSA,” he said.

He said the second component would cover all Federal Government agencies, departments, commissions, councils, parastatals and other government bodies.

Onanuga said the exercise would establish a definitive inventory of government entities and verify their legal basis, while examining how such bodies obtain official recognition, budgetary consideration, correspondence privileges, office facilities and access to government systems.

According to him, the audit would further assess governance, procurement, internal-audit and oversight mechanisms across government, with the objective of shutting systemic loopholes that could enable irregular entities or individuals to gain access to public resources.

President Tinubu directed that the exercise be conducted with the highest standards of independence, professionalism and forensic integrity.

He explained that the audit team would have access to relevant government systems and records and would work with the ICPC to ensure that its review complements ongoing investigations, prosecutions and recoveries.

According to Onanuga, President Tinubu expects the exercise to go beyond identifying individual instances of fraud or administrative failure.

“Instead, the administration wants the review to strengthen the architecture of government, close systemic loopholes, improve data verification and reconciliation, reinforce accountability and ensure that only legally constituted entities and eligible personnel have access to government resources,” he added.

The exercise, he said, underscored Tinubu’s commitment to transparency, accountability, fiscal governance and institutional integrity across the Federal Government.