By Our Correspondent President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved a comprehensive forensic audit of the Federal Government’s systems...
By Our Correspondent
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved a comprehensive forensic audit of the Federal Government’s systems, including the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), ministries, departments and agencies.
The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, disclosed this in a statement issued on Friday.
According to Onanuga, President Tinubu directed the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, to oversee and coordinate the exercise.
He said the directive followed the resolution of the Federal Executive Council on August 19, 2026, in response to findings by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) concerning “fake agencies,” ghost workers and other control failures within government systems.
Onanuga said the audit would establish the nature and extent of weaknesses in the government’s control systems and determine how such weaknesses had been exploited.
He explained that the exercise would have two interconnected components.
The first component will focus on a forensic audit of government systems, particularly IPPIS and related payroll, personnel, pension and financial-management platforms.
According to him, the audit will examine reported cases of ghost workers and payroll fraud, reconcile figures identified by the ICPC, trace how fictitious or ineligible persons were enrolled, and review access, identity, biometric and bank-account controls.
The exercise will also examine the interfaces between IPPIS and other government platforms, including the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), Remita, the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and Sub-TSA.
Onanuga said the review would determine whether identified fraud resulted from system defects, process failures, inadequate segregation of duties or deliberate circumvention of established procedures.
The second component will cover all Federal Government agencies, departments, commissions, councils, parastatals and other government bodies.
He said the audit would establish a definitive inventory of such bodies and verify their legal basis, while examining how entities obtain official recognition, budgetary consideration, correspondence privileges, office facilities and access to government systems.
According to the statement, the exercise will also assess governance, procurement, internal-audit and oversight controls across government, with a view to closing systemic weaknesses that could allow irregular entities or individuals to access public resources.
President Tinubu directed that the exercise be conducted with the highest standards of independence, professionalism and forensic integrity, Onanuga said.
He added that the audit team would have access to relevant government systems and records and would collaborate with the ICPC to ensure that the review complements ongoing investigations, prosecutions and recoveries.
Onanuga said President Tinubu expected the exercise to go beyond identifying individual cases of fraud or administrative failure.
He said the President wanted the audit to strengthen the architecture of government, close systemic loopholes, improve data verification and reconciliation, reinforce accountability, and ensure that only duly constituted entities and eligible personnel have access to government resources.
According to the presidential aide, the exercise underscores Tinubu’s commitment to strengthening transparency, accountability, fiscal governance and institutional integrity across the Federal Government.
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