The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has secured a final court order forfeiting ₦941,994,079.86 traced to suspected ghost workers uncovered in the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System.
The anti-graft agency disclosed on Saturday that Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court in Abuja granted the final forfeiture order, transferring the funds, believed to be proceeds of unlawful activities, to the Federal Government.
According to the commission, the forfeiture followed an ex parte application filed before the court after investigations uncovered a widespread payroll fraud involving fictitious public servants across several Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
A statement issued by the ICPC’s Head of Media and Public Communications, John Odey, said the court ordered that the entire sum of ₦941,994,079.86, recovered during investigations into the 2024 IPPIS payroll scam, be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.
The commission explained that its investigation traced the funds to hundreds of fake employees whose salaries were allegedly paid into bank accounts belonging to individuals and companies over several years.
It recalled that, following the court’s directive, it published the names of 910 suspected beneficiaries of the alleged payroll fraud on March 18, 2026, inviting anyone with legitimate claims to come forward.
According to the ICPC, the fraud was first uncovered through a systems study conducted in 2023, which revealed the presence of numerous ghost workers embedded in the payrolls of several government agencies.
The findings prompted President Bola Tinubu to approve a comprehensive audit of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System.
The commission said it subsequently launched a joint investigation with the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation in April 2024, leading to the discovery of 587 suspected ghost workers on the payroll platform.
Investigators found that fake IPPIS identities had been created for non-existent employees across multiple MDAs, while salaries were allegedly diverted into unrelated bank accounts.
The ICPC added that some accounts received salaries for multiple fictitious workers simultaneously, with several account names bearing no relationship to the purported employees.
Between August and November 2024, the commission said it placed Post No Debit restrictions on all identified accounts, freezing the suspected proceeds of the fraud pending investigation.
The affected institutions include the Nigeria Police Force; the Federal Ministries of Defence, Education, Agriculture and Rural Development, Works, Water Resources and Interior; the National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies; the University of Benin; the University of Calabar; the University of Nigeria, Nsukka; the University of Maiduguri; Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; and even the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.
The ICPC disclosed that a verification exercise conducted in 2025 cleared 120 civil servants, whose employment records were confirmed before they were reinstated on the IPPIS platform.
However, it said 467 bank accounts remain linked to unverified individuals, with the identities of the account holders yet to be established.
The anti-corruption agency noted that the frozen ₦941.9 million in those accounts formed the basis of the forfeiture proceedings before the court.
According to the commission’s prosecution counsel, Hamza Sani, documentary evidence, including IPPIS records, names of the purported workers and banking details of beneficiaries, was tendered before the court to support the application.
The ICPC reaffirmed its commitment to combating corruption, strengthening accountability and promoting transparency in the management of public resources through lawful enforcement actions.
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