President Bola Tinubu has ordered a comprehensive forensic audit of the Federal Government’s payroll systems and agencies following findings on ghost workers, “fake agencies” and other control failures.
The directive was contained in a statement issued on Friday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
Tinubu directed the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, to oversee and coordinate the exercise, which will cover the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), federal agencies and their administrative and internal control systems.
The decision followed a Federal Executive Council resolution of August 19, 2026, prompted by findings from the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on “fake agencies”, ghost workers and other weaknesses in government controls.
The audit is expected to determine the nature and extent of the weaknesses and establish how they may have been exploited.
One arm of the exercise will subject IPPIS and related payroll, personnel, pension and financial-management platforms to forensic scrutiny.
It will examine reported ghost-worker cases and payroll fraud, reconcile figures identified by the ICPC and trace the processes through which fictitious or ineligible persons were enrolled.
The review will also assess access, identity, biometric and bank-account controls, as well as the links between IPPIS and other government platforms, including the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System, Remita, the Treasury Single Account and Sub-Treasury Single Account.
The audit will seek to establish whether irregularities arose from system defects, process failures, inadequate separation of duties or deliberate circumvention of controls.
The second arm will examine all federal government agencies, departments, commissions, councils, parastatals and other government bodies.
The exercise will establish a definitive inventory of such entities and verify their legal basis, while examining how they secure official recognition, budgetary consideration, correspondence privileges, office facilities and access to government systems.
It will also scrutinise governance, procurement, internal-audit and oversight arrangements across government in a bid to prevent irregular entities or persons from gaining access to public resources.
Tinubu directed that the audit be conducted with “the highest standards of independence, professionalism and forensic integrity.”
The audit team will have access to relevant government systems and records and will work with the ICPC to ensure that its findings complement ongoing investigations, prosecutions and recoveries.
The President said the exercise should extend beyond individual cases of fraud or administrative failure, with the broader objective of strengthening government controls, closing systemic loopholes, improving data verification and reconciliation, reinforcing accountability and ensuring that only legally constituted entities and eligible personnel access government resources.
The exercise, the statement said, reflects Tinubu’s commitment to transparency, accountability, fiscal governance and institutional integrity across the Federal Government.