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Ko Oscar Okhifo
The dust has yet to settle on the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) revelation that it uncovered 908 ghost workers across federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), as Nigerians continue to question the effectiveness of the Federal Government’s Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) and demand the prosecution of public officials behind the payroll fraud.
While the ICPC announced that it had recovered about ₦942 million fraudulently paid to non-existent employees, many Nigerians insist that recovering public funds is only part of the solution.
They argue that unless those who inserted the ghost workers into the payroll and those who allegedly protected them are identified and prosecuted, similar fraud will continue to thrive.
The anti-corruption agency disclosed last Wednesday that it uncovered 908 ghost workers across various federal MDAs as part of efforts to sanitize the public service payroll and strengthen accountability in government institutions.
According to the ICPC, the Nigeria Police Force recorded the highest number of ghost workers with 570 fictitious employees on its payroll.
The National Water Resources Authority followed with 80 ghost workers, while the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, the Federal Ministry of Interior, the Federal Ministry of Works and several other MDAs also featured on the list of agencies where payroll irregularities were detected.
The revelations have continued to dominate discussions across radio phone-in programmes, newspaper commentaries and social media platforms, where many Nigerians describe the findings as evidence that payroll fraud remains deeply rooted in parts of the public service despite years of reforms.
The Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) was introduced by the Federal Government to create a centralized payroll platform for federal workers.
Through biometric verification and a unified personnel database, the system was expected to eliminate ghost workers, block payroll fraud, improve transparency and save billions of naira in public funds.
Successive administrations have repeatedly claimed that the platform had removed thousands of ghost workers and saved the country huge sums previously lost to fraudulent salary payments.
However, the latest ICPC findings have revived concerns over whether those objectives have been fully achieved.
Public finance experts say the discovery demonstrates that technology alone cannot eliminate corruption if those managing the system compromise its integrity.
They argue that fictitious names cannot remain on government payrolls without the active involvement of personnel officers, payroll administrators, finance officials and other insiders responsible for processing salary payments.
For many Nigerians, however, the bigger concern is the apparent absence of prosecutions.
Across several radio phone-in programmes in Abuja, callers questioned why anti-corruption agencies frequently announce the discovery of ghost workers and the recovery of stolen funds but rarely disclose the identities of the public officials responsible or secure convictions against them.
One caller to 95.1 Nigeria Info, said, “If IPPIS was created to eliminate ghost workers, how are hundreds still being discovered years later? Somebody must be held accountable.”
Another caller argued, “Recovering the money is not enough. Those who created these ghost workers and those who protected them should be prosecuted so others can learn.”
Another caller, who identified herself as Comfort from Jabi, Abuja, alleged that payroll fraud had become deeply entrenched in parts of the public service.
“A certain man allegedly fixed three members of his family and his mother-in-law on the government payroll, and they were receiving salaries for doing nothing. During former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, there were also allegations that wives and children of some elite families in the North were receiving N-Power stipends they were not entitled to. What kind of country is this?” she lamented.
Also joining the discussion, Abubakar from Gwagwalada, who called into Nigeria Info 95.1 FM Abuja, lamented what he described as the pervasive nature of corruption in the country.
“We even had a ghost national airline. The corruption is so widespread. Only God can save this country,” he said.
Stories such as these, together with official investigations, have continued to fuel public distrust and reinforce calls for stronger oversight of government payroll systems.
They also underscore the need for thorough investigations wherever credible allegations of payroll fraud emerge.
Civil society organisations have echoed similar concerns, insisting that the fight against payroll fraud must go beyond deleting fictitious names from government payrolls.
According to them, public confidence will only be restored when those responsible are named, dismissed where appropriate and prosecuted in accordance with the law.
Anti-corruption advocates also argue that every ghost worker represents a deliberate act of fraud involving multiple levels of approval, making it difficult to believe that such schemes could operate without collaboration from serving officials.
Labour and governance analysts warn that ghost workers do more than drain public finances. They inflate personnel costs, distort manpower planning and divert scarce resources away from critical sectors such as education, healthcare, security, infrastructure and social welfare.
Beyond the Federal Government, many Nigerians believe payroll fraud remains a major challenge at the state and local government levels.
They point to past reports of salary fraud in states such as Kogi, where billions of naira were reportedly lost to ghost workers and payroll manipulation, as evidence that the problem is nationwide.
For many citizens, the lingering questions are no longer whether ghost workers exist but why the same pattern keeps recurring despite repeated reforms.
They ask: When will lasting solutions come? When will those who manipulate government payrolls and the officials who enable them begin to face justice?
Until those questions are answered with decisive action, many fear the ghost worker syndrome will remain one of Nigeria’s most enduring symbols of public sector corruption.
They insist that only sustained political will, airtight payroll controls, transparent investigations and the prosecution of offenders, regardless of status or position, will convince Nigerians that the era of ghost workers is truly coming to an end.
