Despite the implementation of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has discovered 22,074 suspicious personnel on the Federal Government’s payroll.

This alarming revelation comes as the ICPC continues its efforts to eliminate corruption and inefficiencies within government operations.

In its comprehensive review of the IPPIS, the ICPC found that the government paid a staggering N37,103,337,614.40 last year to these suspicious workers. These personnel were spread across various Ministries, Departments, Agencies (MDAs), tertiary institutions, and the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), with the NPF being particularly implicated.

Within the MDAs alone, 12,714 personnel were on the payroll but were not listed on the service-wide nominal roll between January and December of the previous year. The monetary value associated with these individuals amounted to N34,808,740,634.37. Additionally, the review identified 4,190 ex-policemen on the IPPIS payroll.

The ICPC report, part of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s anti-corruption system review, highlighted several fraudulent activities. These included tampering with the IPPIS, manipulation of records, and the inclusion of ghost workers. Investigators noted various corrupt practices across 20 MDAs, such as the receipt of double salaries, the use of fictitious names to divert public funds, operation of multiple IPPIS accounts, and discrepancies between payroll and banking application verification.

For example, 95 personnel across all MDAs had discrepancies in their names between the payroll, the nominal roll, and the banking application verification.

Among these, eight individuals shared the same family name, with one linked to two IPPIS accounts. Moreover, 24 workers from about 20 MDAs were allegedly receiving double salaries from their respective agencies or even from other agencies.

At the Ministry of Works, 212 officers on the IPPIS payroll, with a monthly monetary value of N31,986,324.40, were not listed on the Ministry’s nominal roll or the IPPIS service-wide nominal roll.

The commission said: “The general overview of the Nominal Roll and Payroll of MDAs furnished by IPPIS and subjected to an analysis established a quantum disparity of 12, 174 personnel between the two parameters (nominal roll and payroll) used in the analysis.

“The said 12,174 personnel were visibly on the payroll but not on the service wide nominal roll between January and December 2023,

“The monetary value of the 12, 174 personnel is put at N34,808,740,634.37within the period under review. Included in the service wide disparity between the payroll and the nominal roll were the specific discoveries made from some MDAs used as a pilot scheme.”

But the fraud was allegedly more entrenched in the Nigeria Police Force with thousands of ex-employees on the payroll.

The report added: “The analysis of NPF payroll focused on December 2023 nominal and payroll obtained from IPPIS for the purpose of comparison. The nominal and payroll have populated names of 350,028 and 312,047 respectively.

“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.

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