The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has uncovered a payroll fraud scheme in which a public servant allegedly enrolled 14 members of his family as workers, while a hotel was also listed as a public employee receiving government salary.
The Commission Chairman, Musa Aliyu disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja at the 4th Economic Confidential Lecture/National Spokesperson Award where he highlighted the ICPC’s efforts to tackle corruption, ghost workers and other leakages in the public sector.
According to the ICPC boss, investigations into ghost workers uncovered cases where individuals inserted their relatives into government payrolls despite the beneficiaries not working in the offices where they were purportedly employed.
The Chairman said one individual enrolled 14 members of his family, while another allegedly enrolled his wife, daughter, son and in-law on the public payroll.
In another striking case, the ICPC boss said a hotel was listed as a public officer and was receiving salary from government funds.
He also disclosed that one individual was found to be receiving 13 different salaries through fraudulent payroll arrangements.
The anti-graft agency said the discoveries underscored the extent to which payroll fraud and corruption were draining public resources and denying qualified Nigerians employment opportunities.
He explained that ghost workers also created other fraudulent liabilities because their salaries were often accompanied by deductions for pensions, housing funds and health insurance.
The ICPC boss said the Commission had taken legal steps against suspected ghost workers, including securing interim orders involving about 900 suspected ghost workers whose names were published in two national newspapers.
The suspects were challenged to appear and demonstrate that they were genuine public officers.
He said the commission intervention had also led to the recovery of more than N24bn linked to ghost workers’ pensions in 2024.
He further said that following investigations, funds running into more than N100m were moved from accounts associated with suspected ghost workers.
He stressed that preventing corruption and plugging leakages remained more effective than waiting for public funds to be stolen before attempting to recover them.
(The Whistler)