The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has uncovered cases of alleged payroll fraud involving government officials who inserted relatives into public payroll systems.
ICPC Chairman Musa Aliyu disclosed the findings in Abuja while delivering a keynote address at the 2026 Economic Confidential Lecture and National Spokespersons Award.
According to Aliyu, one official allegedly enrolled 14 members of his family on the government payroll and collected their salaries.
In another case, an individual allegedly enrolled his wife, daughter, son and other relatives and received 13 salaries through the scheme.
Aliyu said the discoveries were made during a year-long investigation into suspected ghost workers and manipulation of government payrolls.
The ICPC chairman explained that investigators found cases where names appeared on official payrolls alongside email addresses, while the bank accounts receiving the salaries belonged to different individuals.
The findings suggest that fraudulent entries were allegedly created to enable individuals to receive multiple government salaries through fictitious employees.
The commission has also identified about 900 suspected ghost workers and previously published their names to give those affected an opportunity to prove that they were genuine employees.
Aliyu warned that the financial impact of ghost workers extends beyond salaries because fictitious employees can also generate fraudulent pension, housing, health insurance and other benefits.
He said the ICPC's intervention was aimed at protecting public resources and reducing the financial burden created by payroll fraud.
The commission has previously uncovered hundreds of suspected ghost workers across federal ministries, departments and agencies.
In a related investigation, ICPC identified 908 suspected ghost workers across at least 50 federal MDAs, while about ₦942 million linked to the wider payroll fraud was recovered and later subjected to a final forfeiture order.
The affected institutions included several federal ministries and agencies as well as universities and other public institutions.
ICPC said the wider investigation revealed fictitious identities on the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System, with salaries allegedly paid into accounts belonging to other individuals or companies.
Aliyu said the commission spent about a year investigating the suspected ghost-worker network and examining how the fraudulent entries were created.
He also stressed the importance of using technology, data analysis and collaboration between government agencies to detect and prevent similar schemes.
The ICPC chairman said preventing corruption before it occurs is increasingly important because the commission cannot rely solely on prosecuting every individual involved in financial misconduct.
He said stronger preventive systems could help government agencies protect public funds before they are lost.
The latest revelations have renewed concerns about weaknesses in Nigeria's public payroll system and the potential for individuals to exploit gaps in government verification processes.
For taxpayers, ghost-worker fraud means public funds intended for genuine employees and public services can allegedly be diverted through fictitious payroll entries.
The ICPC's findings therefore underline the importance of regular payroll verification, stronger data matching and effective monitoring of government salary systems.
While the allegations disclosed by the commission remain subject to investigation and due process, the scale of the reported cases highlights the need for stronger safeguards around public payroll management.