President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered a comprehensive forensic audit of Federal Government systems following findings by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on fake government agencies, ghost workers and other control failures.
The directive was disclosed on Friday by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy.
Tinubu directed the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, to oversee and coordinate the exercise.
According to Onanuga, the audit will cover the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), Federal Government agencies and the administrative and internal controls governing public institutions.
The directive followed a resolution of the Federal Executive Council on August 19, 2026, which came after the ICPC reported cases involving allegedly fictitious agencies, ghost workers and weaknesses in government controls.
Onanuga said the audit would determine the scale of the weaknesses in government systems and establish how they may have been exploited.
The exercise will have two major components.
The first will focus on government payroll and related systems, particularly IPPIS and platforms covering personnel, pensions and financial management.
The audit team will investigate reported cases of ghost workers and payroll fraud, reconcile figures identified by the ICPC and trace how fictitious or ineligible individuals were enrolled.
It will also examine identity, biometric, access and bank-account controls used within the systems.
The review will further assess the links between IPPIS and other government platforms, including the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), Remita, the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and Sub-TSA.
The government said the assessment would determine whether identified irregularities resulted from system defects, procedural failures, weak separation of duties or deliberate circumvention of controls.
The second component will cover Federal Government ministries, departments, agencies, commissions, councils, parastatals and other public bodies.
The exercise will seek to establish a definitive list of government entities and verify their legal basis. It will also examine how organisations obtain official recognition, receive budgetary allocations, access government correspondence channels and office facilities, and gain entry into government systems.
Governance, procurement, internal audit and oversight arrangements will also be reviewed to identify weaknesses that could enable unauthorised entities or individuals to gain access to public resources.
Tinubu directed that the audit be carried out independently and in line with professional and forensic standards.
The audit team will have access to relevant government records and systems and will work with the ICPC to ensure that the exercise supports ongoing investigations, prosecutions and recovery efforts.
The President said the exercise should extend beyond individual cases of fraud or administrative failure. He wants the review to strengthen government systems, close loopholes, improve data verification and reconciliation, and ensure that only legally recognised entities and eligible personnel have access to public resources.
Onanuga said the directive reflects the administration’s effort to strengthen transparency, accountability, fiscal governance and institutional integrity across the Federal Government.
