ICPC uncovers hotel listed as civil servant on FG payroll as man collects 13 salaries

Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency has uncovered a payroll fraud scheme so brazen that a hotel was listed as a government employee receiving monthly salary — while one public servant enrolled 14 family members on government payroll and another individual collected 13 different salaries simultaneously.

ICPC Chairman Musa Aliyu made the shocking disclosures Thursday in Abuja at the 4th Economic Confidential Lecture, as reported by The Whistler. He said investigations revealed widespread cases of individuals inserting relatives — including wives, daughters, sons and in-laws — onto government payrolls despite none of them working in the listed offices.

The ICPC has secured interim court orders against approximately 900 suspected ghost workers whose names were published in two national newspapers, challenging them to prove their legitimacy. The commission also recovered over N24 billion linked to ghost worker pension fraud in 2024. Aliyu warned that ghost worker schemes also generate fraudulent pension, housing fund and health insurance deductions beyond the stolen salaries themselves.