Court Orders Final Forfeiture of N941 Million Recovered from IPPIS Ghost Workers
By Aboki Forex —
The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the final forfeiture of N941,994,079.86 linked to suspected ghost workers uncovered during an investigation by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) into the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS). Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court, Abuja, delivered the ruling on an ex parte application filed by the ICPC.
Court Ruling and ICPC Action
Following an interim order, the ICPC published the names of 910 individuals suspected to have benefited from the alleged fraud in two national newspapers, Daily Trust and The Nation, on March 18, 2026. The Commission argued that the funds were proceeds of unlawful activities and prayed that they be forfeited to the Federal Government.
Justice Nyako agreed with the ICPC's submission. She ruled: “An Order is hereby made for the final forfeiture to the Federal Republic of Nigeria of the sum of N941,994,079.86 seized during the investigation into the IPPIS payroll scam in the year 2024.”
How the Fraud Worked
According to the ICPC, its prosecution counsel, Mr. Hamza Sani, Esq., presented detailed records of the affected accounts. Evidence included IPPIS numbers, names of purported workers, and banking details of the beneficiaries. Investigations by the ICPC revealed a large-scale payroll fraud involving hundreds of non-existent public servants, with a total sum of N941,994,079.86 traced to accounts linked to the scheme.
The discovery followed a systems study conducted by the Commission in 2023. The exercise revealed the existence of numerous ghost workers embedded in the payrolls of several Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). The ICPC stated: “Investigations revealed that fictitious IPPIS identities had been created for non-existent personnel across multiple MDAs, with salaries paid over extended periods into accounts belonging to individuals and companies. In many cases, the account names did not correspond with those of the purported employees, while some accounts received multiple salary payments simultaneously.”
Affected MDAs and Next Steps
Between August and November 2024, the Commission ensured that Post No Debit (PND) restrictions were placed on all identified accounts. The affected MDAs include the Nigeria Police Force; the Federal Ministries of Defence, Education, Agriculture and Rural Development, Works, Water Resources, and Interior; as well as institutions such as the National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies, the University of Benin, the University of Calabar, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, the University of Maiduguri, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.
Reacting to the development, the ICPC stressed that it remains committed to combating corruption and promoting transparency and good governance through the rule of law in Nigeria. The Federal Government began implementing IPPIS in 2007 to enhance transparency, accuracy, security, and reliability in the management of personnel records. In 2023, the government announced it would delist unverified civil servants from its payroll following the IPPIS verification exercise.
For the naira and Nigerian taxpayers, this forfeiture signals that recovered funds from payroll fraud can be returned to government coffers, potentially reducing fiscal waste. It also underscores the ICPC's continued push to clean up the public sector payroll, which has long drained resources needed for infrastructure and services.