President Bola Tinubu has directed Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, to lead a comprehensive forensic audit of Federal Government systems, including a review of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), and the administration and internal controls of federal agencies.
The directive follows an August 19, 2026 resolution by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) taken in response to findings by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), on “fake agencies,” ghost workers, and other control failures.
Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information & Strategy, in a statement on Friday, explained that the audit was designed to establish the nature and extent of weaknesses in government control systems and determine how those weaknesses have been exploited. It will proceed in two parts.
According to the statement, the first component targets IPPIS and related payroll, personnel, pension, and financial-management platforms. Noting that it would examine reported ghost-worker and payroll fraud cases, reconcile figures identified by the ICPC, trace how fictitious or ineligible persons were enrolled, and review access, identity, biometric and bank-account controls.
Investigators will also study how IPPIS interfaces with other government platforms, including GIFMIS, Remita, the Treasury Single Account and Sub-TSA, to determine whether fraud stemmed from system defects, process failures, poor segregation of duties, or deliberate circumvention.
The second component covers all federal agencies, departments, commissions, councils, parastatals and other government bodies. It will produce a definitive inventory of these entities, verify their legal basis, and examine how they obtain official recognition, budgetary consideration, correspondence privileges, office facilities and access to government systems, alongside governance, procurement, and internal-audit controls.
Tinubu directed that the exercise be carried out with the highest standards of independence, professionalism and forensic integrity, with the audit team given access to relevant government systems and records.
The team will work with the ICPC to ensure the review complements ongoing investigations, prosecutions and recoveries.
Beyond flagging individual cases of fraud, the President wants the exercise to strengthen government architecture, close systemic loopholes, improve data verification and reconciliation, and ensure only duly constituted entities and eligible personnel can access public resources, underscoring his commitment to transparency and institutional integrity.
