President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved a comprehensive forensic audit of Federal Government systems, including the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), ministries, departments and agencies.
The President directed the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, to oversee and coordinate the exercise.
The directive follows a Federal Executive Council resolution of August 19, 2026, which was prompted by findings from the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) concerning alleged “fake agencies,” ghost workers and other weaknesses in government controls.
The audit is expected to determine the extent of weaknesses in government systems and establish how such gaps may have been exploited to facilitate fraud and other irregularities.
One component of the exercise will focus on IPPIS and related payroll, personnel, pension and financial-management platforms. It will examine reported cases of ghost workers and payroll fraud, reconcile figures identified by the ICPC and trace how fictitious or ineligible persons may have been enrolled.
The review will also assess access, identity, biometric and bank-account controls, as well as the interfaces 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 audit will seek to establish whether identified irregularities resulted from system defects, process failures, inadequate segregation of duties or deliberate circumvention of established procedures.
The second component will cover Federal Government agencies, departments, commissions, councils, parastatals and other government bodies.
It will establish a definitive inventory of such entities, verify their legal status and examine how they obtain government recognition, budgetary consideration, office facilities, correspondence privileges and access to public systems.
The exercise will also review governance, procurement, internal audit and oversight mechanisms across government, with the aim of closing systemic loopholes that could enable unauthorised entities or individuals to access public resources.
Tinubu directed that the audit be conducted with the highest standards of independence, professionalism and forensic integrity.
The audit team will have access to relevant government records and systems and will work with the ICPC to ensure that the exercise complements ongoing investigations, prosecutions and recovery efforts.
According to the directive, the exercise is not intended merely to identify individual cases of fraud or administrative failure but to strengthen the overall architecture of government.
It is expected to improve data verification and reconciliation, strengthen accountability and ensure that only legally constituted government entities and eligible personnel have access to public resources.
The initiative underscores the administration’s stated commitment to improving transparency, fiscal governance, accountability and institutional integrity across the Federal Government.
