The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has uncovered cases of ghost workers allegedly inserted into government payrolls, including one official who enrolled 14 members of his family and another who allegedly collected 13 salaries.
ICPC Chairman Musa Aliyu disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja while delivering the keynote address at the 2026 Economic Confidential Lecture and National Spokespersons Award.
Aliyu said the commission’s investigation into ghost workers exposed how individuals manipulated government payroll systems to receive multiple salaries.
“We discovered that one person enrolled 14 members of his family. He lived in a religious hotel, a hotel at the public office, receiving salaries,” he said.
He added that another individual allegedly enrolled his wife, daughter, son and other family members and was receiving 13 salaries.
The ICPC chairman noted that the commission had identified about 900 suspected ghost workers and published their names, challenging them to prove they were genuine employees.
Investigators spent about a year probing the cases and found that in some instances, names appeared on official payrolls with email addresses, but the linked bank accounts belonged to other people.
Aliyu warned that ghost workers also generate ghost pensions, mortgages, housing funds and health insurance claims.
He disclosed that the commission recovered more than N24 billion in ghost pension funds in 2024 and stressed the need for preventive measures, data use and technology to tackle corruption.
