President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered a comprehensive forensic audit of federal government systems.
The President has directed that the comprehensive forensic audit be overseen and co-ordinated by the Minister of Finance and Co-ordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele.
It said the audit would cover, among others, the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), Federal Government agencies and their administration and internal controls.
President Tinubu’s directive is sequel to the resolution of the Federal Executive Council on August 19, 2026 on the findings of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission (ICPC) on “fake agencies”, ghost workers and other control failures, a statement issued on Friday by his spokesman, Bayo Onanuga said.
The exercise will identify the nature and extent of weaknesses in Government’s control system and determine how such weaknesses have been exploited.
According to Onanuga, the review will comprise two interrelated parts.
The first will be a forensic audit of Government systems, especially IPPIS and associated payroll, personnel, pension and financial-management platforms. It will investigate reported ghost workers and payroll fraud cases, cross check figures identified by the ICPC, trace how fictitious or ineligible persons were enrolled, review access, identity, biometric and bank-account controls.
The exercise will also consider the interfaces between IPPIS and other government platforms including GIFMIS, Remita, the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and Sub-TSA to ascertain whether fraud was perpetrated due to system defects, process failures, inadequate segregation of duties or intentional circumvention.
The second part of the audit will cover all the agencies, departments, commissions, councils, parastatals and other government bodies of the Federal Government. It will create a definitive list of such bodies and check their legal basis. It will look at how entities get official recognition, budgetary consideration, the privilege of correspondence, office facilities and access to government systems.
The exercise will evaluate governance, procurement, internal audit and oversight controls across Government to correct systemic vulnerabilities that could enable irregular entities or persons to access public resources.
President Tinubu directed that the exercise must be conducted with the highest standards of independence, professionalism and forensic integrity.
The audit team will be given access to relevant government systems and records. It will work with the ICPC to ensure that the review is complementary to all ongoing investigations, prosecutions and recoveries.
“President Tinubu wants the exercise to go beyond the identification of individual cases of fraud or administrative failure, but to do so by improving the architecture of Government, plugging systemic loopholes, improving data verification and reconciliation, reinforcing accountability and making sure that only duly constituted entities and eligible personnel are the ones having access to Government resources.
“The exercise underscores the President’s commitment to strengthening transparency, accountability, fiscal governance and institutional integrity across the Federal Government,” the statement said.
