Court Orders Final Forfeiture of ₦941.9m Linked to IPPIS Ghost Workers as ICPC Tightens Anti-Graft Crackdown

By Pan Afric Reporters

The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the final forfeiture of ₦941.99 million traced to a massive Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) fraud involving suspected ghost workers, in a major victory for the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) in its ongoing anti-corruption campaign.

The development was disclosed in a press statement issued by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and signed by its Head of Media and Public Communications, Mr. J. Okor Odey, on Saturday.

The Commission said Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court, Abuja, granted the final forfeiture order after hearing an ex-parte application filed by the ICPC on behalf of the Federal Government, seeking the permanent forfeiture of ₦941,994,079.86 believed to be proceeds of unlawful activities uncovered during investigations into the IPPIS payroll system.

According to the ICPC, the recovered funds were linked to a large-scale payroll fraud involving hundreds of fictitious public servants embedded in the payrolls of several Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

The Commission disclosed that, acting on the court’s directive, it had on March 18, 2026, published the names of 910 suspected beneficiaries of the alleged fraud in Daily Trust and The Nation newspapers, inviting anyone with legitimate claims to come forward.

Investigations, the anti-graft agency said, stemmed from a comprehensive systems study carried out in 2023, which exposed the existence of numerous ghost workers within the IPPIS platform.

Following the findings, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu approved a comprehensive audit of the payroll system, leading to a joint investigation launched in April 2024 by the ICPC and the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF).

The investigation uncovered 587 suspected ghost workers, revealing that fake IPPIS identities had been created for non-existent personnel across multiple MDAs.

According to the Commission, salaries were paid over several years into accounts belonging to individuals and companies, while some accounts received multiple salary payments simultaneously despite discrepancies between account names and the purported employees.

To prevent further diversion of public funds, the ICPC said it imposed Post No Debit (PND) restrictions on all identified accounts between August and November 2024, effectively freezing the suspected proceeds of fraud.

The affected institutions include the Nigeria Police Force, the Federal Ministries of Defence, Education, Agriculture and Rural Development, Works, Water Resources and Interior, as well as several tertiary institutions, including the University of Benin, University of Calabar, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, University of Maiduguri, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, the National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies, and even the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.

The Commission further disclosed that a verification exercise conducted in 2025 cleared 120 genuine civil servants, whose identities and employment status were confirmed before they were reinstated on the IPPIS platform.

However, investigations established that 467 bank accounts remained linked to unverified individuals whose identities could not be established, with the ₦941.9 million frozen in those accounts becoming the subject of the forfeiture proceedings.

ICPC prosecution counsel, Mr. Hamza Sani, told the court that detailed records, including IPPIS numbers, names of purported workers and banking details of beneficiaries, were tendered as evidence.

Delivering her ruling, Justice Nyako ordered the permanent transfer of the recovered funds to the Federal Government.

“That an Order is hereby made for the Final Forfeiture to the Federal Republic of Nigeria the Sum of ₦941,994,079.86 seized during investigation into the IPPIS Payroll scam in the year 2024,” the court ruled.

The ICPC said the judgment underscores its commitment to combating corruption, protecting public resources and promoting transparency, accountability and good governance through strict adherence to the rule of law.