The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has found 908 fake workers spread across federal ministries, departments and agencies. The payroll scam drained hundreds of millions of naira.
The anti-graft body recovered N942 million in salary payments made to these ghost employees.
Musa Aliyu, the ICPC chairman, told BBC Pidgin the case started with an investigation in 2024. Officials first noticed strange irregularities in pension records.
The commission uses the term fake workers for names that were slipped onto government payrolls even though the people never worked there.
Aliyu said senior officials in some places added relatives and friends to the lists, then collected the money themselves. One suspect put his wife, his son and his mother-in-law on the payroll and also drew salaries meant for 12 other nonexistent staff.
The probe reached at least 50 ministries and agencies. A handful of them had far higher numbers than the rest.
The Nigeria Police Force sits at the top with 570 suspected fake workers. The National Water Resources Authority had 80, while the federal ministry of works recorded 56.
Foreign affairs came in with 24, defence with 19. Power and the ministry of industry, trade and investment each had 17. Health had 15 and the office of the head of the civil service of the federation had 12.
The office of the accountant-general of the federation and the ministry of interior also showed fake workers, but Aliyu gave no numbers for them. Investigations there are still under way.
