President Bola Tinubu has ordered a comprehensive forensic audit of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) and other federal government financial platforms, targeting ghost workers, fictitious entities and systemic control failures that have allowed public funds to be diverted.
The directive was announced on Friday in a statement by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga. It followed a Federal Executive Council resolution of August 19 arising from findings by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
Tinubu instructed the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, to oversee and coordinate the exercise. The audit aims to establish how ineligible persons and unrecognised entities gained access to government payrolls, budgets and payment systems.
Investigators will examine IPPIS alongside related personnel, pension and financial-management platforms. They will reconcile figures flagged by the ICPC, trace how fictitious names were enrolled, and scrutinise biometric, identity and bank-account verification processes as well as access controls.
Particular attention will be paid to the interfaces between IPPIS and other systems, including the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), Remita, the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and Sub-TSA. The review will determine whether the irregularities stemmed from system defects, process weaknesses, inadequate segregation of duties or deliberate circumvention of controls.
A second phase will extend the forensic examination across the entire federal architecture. All ministries, departments, agencies, commissions, councils, parastatals and other government bodies will be assessed to produce a definitive inventory of legally constituted entities and to verify the basis on which they receive budgetary allocations, correspondence privileges, office facilities and access to financial systems.
Governance, procurement, internal audit and oversight mechanisms will also come under scrutiny with the goal of closing loopholes that allow irregular entities or individuals to draw on public resources.
President Tinubu directed that the audit be conducted to “the highest standards of independence, professionalism and forensic integrity.” The team will have access to relevant systems and records and will work in coordination with the ICPC to support ongoing investigations, prosecutions and recovery efforts.
According to the Presidency, the ultimate objective is to reinforce data verification, strengthen accountability and ensure that only eligible personnel and legally established entities can access government resources. Onanuga said the exercise underscores the administration’s commitment to transparency, fiscal discipline and institutional integrity.
