The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has uncovered cases of alleged payroll fraud involving government workers who enrolled relatives as fake employees and collected multiple salaries.

According to Naija Punch News, ICPC Chairman, Musa Aliyu, disclosed this on Thursday while speaking at the 2026 Economic Confidential Lecture and National Spokespersons Award organised by Image Merchants Promotions Limited (IMPR) in Abuja.

Aliyu said the commission’s one-year investigation into ghost workers revealed different methods used to introduce fake names into the government payroll system and uncovered an individual who allegedly placed 14 members of his family on the government payroll.

He said another person was found to have enrolled his wife, daughter, son and other relatives, enabling him to receive as many as 13 salaries.

“We spent one year, one single year, on ghost workers. We discovered that one person enrolled 14 members of his family.

“Another person enrolled his wife, his daughter, his son, and others and was receiving 13 salaries,” he said.

According to the ICPC chairman, the commission identified about 900 suspected ghost workers and published their names to give those listed an opportunity to prove that they were legitimate government employees.

Aliyu explained that some of the fraudulent records contained details such as official email addresses, making the listed individuals appear to be genuine employees.

However, checks on the bank details linked to some of the names reportedly showed inconsistencies, with accounts sometimes registered to people different from those listed on the payroll.

The disclosure comes as concerns continue to grow over ghost workers and payroll fraud in public institutions, emphasising the need for stronger employee verification, regular payroll reviews and closer linkage of government employment and banking records.

Aliyu warned that the financial impact of ghost worker schemes could go beyond the payment of salaries, as fake employees could also generate fraudulent claims for pensions, mortgages, housing funds and health insurance.

“Because, you know, once there is a ghost worker, there is ghost pension, there is ghost mortgage, there is ghost housing fund, there is ghost health insurance,” he said.

He disclosed that the commission recovered more than N24 billion in ghost workers’ pension funds in 2024.

“In 2024, we recovered over N24 billion ghost workers pension,” he said.