Despite the implementation of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has identified 22,074 suspicious personnel on the Federal Government’s payroll. Last year, the government paid N37,103,337,614.40 to these questionable workers.
These personnel were found across various Ministries, Departments, Agencies (MDAs), tertiary institutions, and the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), with the NPF being particularly implicated. Within the MDAs, 12,714 individuals were on the payroll but not listed on the service-wide nominal roll from January to December of the previous year. The financial impact of these 12,714 personnel was estimated at N34,808,740,634.37.
Furthermore, 4,190 former police officers were still receiving payments through the IPPIS payroll. These findings were part of a comprehensive review of the IPPIS by the ICPC, conducted as part of the anti-corruption efforts under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
Investigations revealed that the IPPIS had been tampered with, manipulated, and allegedly padded with ghost workers or suspicious personnel. According to ICPC investigators, the payrolls of MDAs and the Nigeria Police Force contained numerous instances of fraud.
Some corrupt practices identified in 20 MDAs included double salary payments, the inclusion of fictitious names on the IPPIS, the diversion of public funds using false identities, the operation of multiple IPPIS accounts, and the presence of ghost workers. For example, 95 personnel across all MDAs had names on both the payroll and the nominal roll, but their names did not match those verified through banking applications. Among these, eight beneficiaries shared the same family name, with one individual linked to two IPPIS accounts.
Additionally, 24 workers from around 20 MDAs were allegedly receiving double salaries from their respective agencies, and sometimes from other agencies as well. At the Ministry of Works, 212 officers listed on the IPPIS payroll, with a monthly monetary value of N31,986,324.40, were not included in the Ministry’s nominal roll or the service-wide nominal roll of IPPIS.
The ICPC report highlighted a significant disparity between the nominal roll and payroll of MDAs, revealing that 12,174 personnel were on the payroll but not on the service-wide nominal roll between January and December 2023. The monetary value of these 12,174 personnel was estimated at N34,808,740,634.37 for the period under review. These findings were part of a pilot scheme focusing on specific MDAs.
The fraud appeared to be even more widespread within the Nigeria Police Force, where thousands of former employees remained on the payroll. The report noted that the analysis of the NPF payroll for December 2023, compared to the nominal roll, revealed that the nominal roll contained 350,028 names, while the payroll listed 312,047 names.
“It was discovered on the nominal roll that 37, 160 staff were described as “ex-employees. However, on the same nominal roll spreadsheet, 37,129 were described as “inactive” whilst the balance of 31 staff were also categorized as having “Active” status.
“Furthermore, 4,190 staff of NPF, described as “ex-employees” were found on the payroll of IPPIS to have received December 2023 salary amounting to N980,273,690.51.
“It was discovered that 3, 228 of the 4, 190 have their records consistent in all parameters used for validation on the payroll such as the names, IPPIS numbers and account numbers.
“Conversely, the account numbers of the remainder 962 staff were compared with that on the payroll and the findings revealed that the names of staff and bank names were inconsistent.
“It was also discovered that none of the IPPIS numbers of the aforementioned number of staff on the payroll was found on the nominal roll.
“Further analysis revealed that the names, IPPIS numbers and account numbers of 20 staff , who were not on the nominal roll, were found on the payroll given by IPPIS amounting to payment of N5,585, 256.13.
It was also discovered that 40 different staff on the 2023 payroll had different IPPIS numbers that had one account linked to the different names. Of the 40 staff, 21 received double salary.
“Furthermore, an account number linked to two officers revealed that the account is in the name of a company, Don Aks Ikoro Global. Some names do not match the account name on the nominal and payroll.”
The IPPIS was conceptulized in 2006 to “improve the effectiveness and efficiency in the storage of personnel records and administration of monthly payroll…”
According to the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation(OAGF), the objectives of IPPIS are to:
• Facilitate automation and storage of personnel records
• Support monitoring of staff emolument payments against budget
• Prevent wastage and leakages by ensuring staff remuneration is based on factually correct information.
Credit: The Nation
