The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, says it has uncovered 908 suspected ghost workers across 50 Federal Government ministries, departments and agencies.

The commission also said it recovered about N942 million in fraudulent salary payments during its payroll verification exercise.

ICPC Chairman, Musa Adamu Aliyu, SAN, disclosed the findings on Wednesday in a report monitored by BBC Pidgin.

According to Aliyu, ghost workers are fake names planted on government payrolls to siphon public funds. He added that in some cases, officials illegally insert relatives and associates to collect salaries.

The ICPC boss cited one case where a man allegedly put his wife, son and mother-in-law on the payroll, while also drawing salaries meant for 12 other workers.

AGENCIES WITH MOST SUSPECTED CASES:

1. NIGERIA POLICE FORCE — 570

“We identified 570 people we suspect are collecting salaries without working,” Aliyu stated.

2. NATIONAL WATER RESOURCES AUTHORITY — 80

“For this agency, we identified 80 names of people collecting salaries even though they are not workers of the agency,” he said.

3. FEDERAL MINISTRY OF WORKS — 56

4. FEDERAL MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS — 24

5. FEDERAL MINISTRY OF DEFENCE — 19

“For the Ministry of Defence, we identified 19 people acting as fake workers,” the chairman noted.

Other MDAs on the list include:

– Ministry of Electricity: 17

– Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment: 17

– Ministry of Health: 15

– Office of the Head of Service: 12

The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Ministry of Interior were also mentioned, but the ICPC did not give figures for them.

Aliyu said the commission is continuing its investigation and will ensure those culpable are prosecuted.