President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered a comprehensive forensic audit of Federal Government systems following revelations involving alleged fake government agencies, ghost workers and weaknesses in public-sector controls.
The President directed the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, to lead and coordinate the exercise, which will cover the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), government agencies and their administrative and internal-control structures.
The directive was disclosed on Friday by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy.
According to Onanuga, the audit followed a resolution of the Federal Executive Council on August 19, 2026, prompted by findings from the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) concerning fictitious agencies, ghost workers and other weaknesses within government systems.
He said the exercise would determine the scale of the identified weaknesses and establish how they may have been exploited to gain access to government resources.
The audit will be conducted in two major areas.
The first will involve a forensic examination of government payroll and personnel systems, particularly IPPIS and related pension, financial-management and payroll platforms.
Auditors will investigate reported cases of ghost workers and payroll fraud, reconcile figures identified by the ICPC and trace the processes through which fictitious or ineligible individuals were enrolled.
The review will also examine identity verification, biometric authentication, bank-account and system-access controls, as well as the procedures governing enrolment and payment.
Particular attention will be paid to the relationship between IPPIS and other government financial platforms, including the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), Remita, the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and Sub-TSA.
The government said the objective is to determine whether identified irregularities arose from weaknesses in system design, process failures, poor segregation of duties or deliberate circumvention of established controls.
The second component will focus on Federal Government ministries, departments, agencies, commissions, councils, parastatals and other public institutions.
The exercise will establish a comprehensive inventory of government bodies and verify their legal status and statutory foundations.
It will also examine how such entities secure official recognition, receive budgetary allocations, obtain correspondence privileges and office facilities, and gain access to government systems and resources.
Beyond the existence and legal status of government entities, the audit will assess governance, procurement, internal-audit and oversight mechanisms across the Federal Government.
The administration said the assessment is intended to identify and eliminate systemic loopholes that could enable irregular entities or unqualified individuals to benefit from public resources.
Tinubu directed that the exercise be carried out with the highest standards of independence, professionalism and forensic integrity.
The audit team will be granted access to relevant government records and systems and will work with the ICPC to ensure that its findings complement existing investigations, prosecutions and recovery efforts.
The President said the exercise must go beyond uncovering individual cases of fraud or administrative lapses and focus on strengthening the overall architecture of government.
He said the objective is to close systemic loopholes, improve data verification and reconciliation, strengthen accountability and ensure that only legally recognised government entities and eligible personnel have access to public funds and government resources.
Onanuga said the exercise reflects Tinubu’s commitment to improving transparency, accountability, fiscal governance and institutional integrity throughout the Federal Government.
