President Bola Tinubu has directed the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, to conduct a comprehensive forensic audit of Federal Government systems, including the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).
The directive was disclosed in a statement issued on Friday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
According to the statement, the audit will cover IPPIS, Federal Government agencies and their administrative and internal control systems.
The exercise follows a resolution of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on August 19, 2026, after findings by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) uncovered alleged fake government agencies, ghost workers and other control failures.
The Presidency said the audit is intended to determine the extent of weaknesses within government’s control systems and establish how such loopholes may have been exploited.
The audit will have two major components.
The first will focus on a forensic review of government systems, particularly IPPIS and related payroll, personnel, pension and financial management platforms.
The review will investigate reported cases of ghost workers and payroll fraud, reconcile figures identified by the ICPC, trace how fictitious or ineligible persons were enrolled and examine access, identity, biometric and bank account controls.
It will also assess the links between IPPIS and other government platforms, including the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), Remita, the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and Sub-Treasury Account.
The exercise will determine whether identified fraud resulted from system defects, procedural failures, weak segregation of duties or deliberate circumvention of controls.
The second component will cover all Federal Government ministries, departments, agencies, commissions, councils, parastatals and other government bodies.
The audit team will establish a definitive inventory of government entities and verify their legal status. It will also examine how such bodies obtain official recognition, receive budgetary allocations, access government facilities and correspondence privileges, and gain access to government systems.
In addition, governance, procurement, internal audit and oversight mechanisms across government will be assessed to identify and close systemic weaknesses that could allow irregular entities or individuals to access public resources.
President Tinubu directed that the exercise be carried out with the highest standards of independence, professionalism and forensic integrity.
The Presidency said the audit team would have access to relevant government records and systems and would work with the ICPC to ensure that the review complements ongoing investigations, prosecutions and recovery efforts.
Onanuga said the President expects the exercise to go beyond identifying individual cases of fraud or administrative failure.
Rather, the audit is expected to strengthen government systems, close systemic loopholes, improve data verification and reconciliation, reinforce accountability and ensure that only legally constituted government entities and eligible personnel have access to public resources.
The Presidency said the exercise further demonstrates Tinubu’s commitment to strengthening transparency, accountability, fiscal governance and institutional integrity across the Federal Government.
