President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved a comprehensive forensic audit of the Federal Government’s 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 the Federal Executive Council’s resolution of August 19, 2026, which was reached in response to findings by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) concerning alleged fake government agencies, ghost workers and other weaknesses in government control systems.
According to a statement issued on Friday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the audit will determine the nature and extent of weaknesses in the government’s systems and establish how such loopholes may have been exploited.
The exercise will have two major components.
The first component will focus on a forensic audit of government systems, particularly IPPIS and related payroll, personnel, pension and financial-management platforms.
It will investigate reported cases of ghost workers and payroll fraud, reconcile figures identified by the ICPC, trace how fictitious or ineligible persons were enrolled and examine access, identity, biometric and bank-account controls.
The audit will also review the connections 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 review is expected to determine whether identified fraud arose from system defects, process failures, inadequate separation of duties or deliberate circumvention of established controls.
The second component will cover all Federal Government agencies, departments, commissions, councils, parastatals and other government bodies.
The exercise will establish a definitive inventory of these entities and verify their legal basis. It will also examine how organisations obtain official recognition, budgetary consideration, correspondence privileges, office facilities and access to government systems.
In addition, the audit will assess governance, procurement, internal audit and oversight mechanisms across government, with a view to eliminating systemic weaknesses that could enable irregular entities or individuals to access public resources.
President Tinubu directed that the exercise be conducted with the highest standards of independence, professionalism and forensic integrity.
The audit team will be granted access to relevant government systems and records and will work with the ICPC to ensure that the exercise complements ongoing investigations, prosecutions and recovery efforts.
The President said the exercise must go beyond identifying individual cases of fraud or administrative failures, stressing the need to strengthen the overall architecture of government.
It is expected to close systemic loopholes, improve data verification and reconciliation, reinforce accountability and ensure that only legally constituted entities and eligible personnel have access to government resources.
The Federal Government said the exercise underscores Tinubu’s commitment to improving transparency, accountability, fiscal governance and institutional integrity across the public sector.
