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President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered a comprehensive forensic audit of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), Federal Government payroll and all federal ministries, departments, agencies and other government bodies as part of efforts to strengthen fiscal controls and prevent the diversion of public resources.
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The directive, announced on August 28, 2026, by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, follows concerns over ghost workers, fraudulent payroll enrolments, weak internal controls and the existence of allegedly “fake agencies” with access to public resources.
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Tinubu has directed the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, to oversee and coordinate the exercise.
FEC Resolution Triggers Comprehensive Government Audit
The presidential directive follows a resolution of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) reached on August 19, 2026, after findings by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) raised concerns about vulnerabilities in government payroll and institutional control systems.
The audit is expected to determine the nature and extent of the weaknesses, establish how they have been exploited and recommend measures to prevent their recurrence.
Rather than focusing solely on individual cases of fraud, the exercise is designed to examine the broader architecture of government systems and controls.
IPPIS, Payroll and Financial Systems Under Review
The first component of the forensic exercise will focus on IPPIS and related personnel, payroll, pension and financial-management systems.
Investigators will examine reported cases of ghost workers and payroll fraud, reconcile figures identified by the ICPC and trace how fictitious or ineligible individuals were enrolled in government payroll systems.
The review will also scrutinise access controls, identity verification procedures, biometric records and bank-account controls to determine where weaknesses may have occurred.
Particular attention will be paid to the interfaces between IPPIS and other government financial platforms, including the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), Remita, the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and Sub-TSA.
The objective is to establish whether identified vulnerabilities resulted from system defects, process failures, inadequate segregation of duties or deliberate circumvention of established controls.
All Federal Government Agencies to Face Scrutiny
The second component will extend beyond payroll systems to cover federal ministries, departments, agencies, commissions, councils, parastatals and other government institutions.
The exercise will seek to establish a definitive inventory of government bodies and verify the legal basis for their existence.
It will also examine how institutions obtain official recognition, budgetary consideration, correspondence privileges, office facilities and access to government systems and public resources.
Governance, procurement, internal audit and oversight arrangements across government will also come under review.
The aim is to identify and close institutional loopholes that could allow irregular entities or individuals to gain access to public funds and other government resources.
Audit Team to Work With ICPC
The Presidency said the exercise would be conducted according to the highest standards of independence, professionalism and forensic integrity.
The audit team will have access to relevant government systems and records and will collaborate with the ICPC to ensure that the exercise complements ongoing investigations, prosecutions and asset-recovery efforts.
This collaboration is expected to help ensure that systemic findings from the audit can support existing anti-corruption interventions while informing reforms to government processes.
Tinubu Seeks Stronger Fiscal Governance
The President has directed that the exercise go beyond identifying individual cases of fraud or administrative failure.
Instead, the audit is expected to strengthen the architecture of government by closing systemic loopholes, improving data verification and reconciliation, reinforcing accountability and ensuring that only duly constituted government entities and eligible personnel can access public resources.
The review also seeks to strengthen the reliability of government personnel and financial data, improve institutional accountability and reduce vulnerabilities within public expenditure systems.
Forensic Audit Signals Wider Government Reform
The comprehensive review of IPPIS and federal institutions represents a broader effort to strengthen transparency, accountability and institutional integrity across the Federal Government.
By examining both the systems through which government personnel and public funds are managed and the institutions authorised to access those resources, the exercise could provide the Federal Government with a clearer picture of weaknesses within its fiscal and administrative architecture.
For the Tinubu administration, the ultimate objective is to build stronger controls around public resources, eliminate opportunities for payroll and institutional fraud and create a more transparent and accountable system of government.
