The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has uncovered a payroll fraud scheme in which a government official allegedly enrolled 14 members of his family as ghost workers and collected multiple salaries.

The ICPC Chairman, Musa Aliyu, disclosed this on Thursday, July 13, while delivering the keynote address at the 2026 Economic Confidential Lecture and National Spokespersons Award organised by Image Merchants Promotions Limited (IMPR) in Abuja.

Aliyu said the commission’s investigation exposed various methods used to manipulate government payroll systems, insert fictitious employees and divert public funds.

According to him, one official enrolled 14 members of his family on the government payroll, while another allegedly registered his wife, daughter, son and other relatives, allowing him to receive 13 salaries.

“We discovered that one person enrolled 14 members of his family,” Aliyu said. “Another person enrolled his wife, his daughter, his son, and others and was receiving 13 salaries.”

The ICPC chairman said the commission had identified about 900 suspected ghost workers and published their names to enable genuine employees to come forward and establish their identities.

He explained that the year-long investigation revealed cases where fictitious employees had legitimate names and email addresses on official payroll platforms, while the bank accounts linked to their records belonged to other individuals.

Aliyu warned that ghost-worker fraud goes beyond the payment of salaries, as fictitious employees could also gain access to pensions, mortgages, housing funds and health insurance.

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

The chairman said the commission was strengthening collaboration with other government agencies and adopting preventive measures to block loopholes through which public funds are diverted.

According to him, the ICPC is increasingly prioritising corruption prevention and ensuring that government projects are properly executed rather than relying solely on criminal prosecution.

“It is better for us to do that than to engage in filing criminal charges. How many charges can we file?” he said.

Aliyu said the ultimate objective of the commission was to ensure that Nigerians derived value from government expenditure.

He also called for increased use of data and technology in the fight against corruption, stressing that reliable information and effective communication were critical to strengthening public confidence in anti-corruption efforts.