Fake Agencies: Tinubu Orders Forensic Audit of IPPIS, FG Agencies

President Bola Tinubu has ordered a forensic audit of the Federal Government’s personnel and payroll systems, including the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System, following concerns over ghost workers, fake agencies and other weaknesses in government controls.

The President gave the directive on Friday, August 28, 2026, asking the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, to supervise the exercise. The order was contained in a statement issued by Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.

The review followed a resolution reached by the Federal Executive Council on August 19, after findings by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission raised concerns about ghost workers, questionable government bodies and failures in the systems used to manage public resources.

The audit will examine how weaknesses in government systems may have allowed irregular payments, false identities and other forms of fraud to take place. It will also seek to determine whether the problems were caused by technical defects, poor procedures, weak checks or deliberate actions by individuals.

A major part of the exercise will focus on IPPIS and other platforms linked to government payroll, personnel records, pensions and financial management. The auditors are expected to compare existing records with figures from the ICPC and trace how people who were not qualified or did not exist were added to government payrolls.

The review will also examine identity verification, biometric information, bank account details and access controls used in the payment system. Connections between IPPIS and other government platforms, including the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System, Remita, the Treasury Single Account and Sub-Treasury Account, will also be examined.

The exercise will further determine how irregular payments may have occurred and whether they resulted from weaknesses in the systems, failures in government processes or the intentional bypassing of established controls.

Beyond payroll issues, the audit will cover Federal Government ministries, departments, agencies, commissions, councils, parastatals and other public institutions.

The government plans to establish a complete record of such bodies and verify the laws or legal instruments under which they were created. Their access to government recognition, budget allocations, official correspondence, office facilities and government systems will also be reviewed.

The audit team will examine procurement processes, internal checks, governance structures and oversight arrangements across government institutions. The aim is to prevent unauthorised organisations and individuals from gaining access to public funds and other government resources.

Tinubu directed that the process be carried out independently and professionally, with the audit team given access to relevant government records and systems needed for the review.

The team is also expected to work with the ICPC so that the audit can support investigations, court cases and efforts to recover public funds where wrongdoing is established.

The Presidency said the exercise is expected to go beyond identifying individual cases of fraud. It will also seek to fix weaknesses in government systems, improve the verification of public workers and records, strengthen financial controls and ensure that only legitimate agencies and eligible workers benefit from government resources.

The audit comes amid continued efforts by the Federal Government to tighten public spending and improve accountability across its institutions. Findings from the exercise are expected to guide further action against fraudulent payroll practices and other weaknesses discovered within the government system.