The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has uncovered cases of alleged payroll fraud involving an official who enrolled 14 members of his family as government employees.

The commission also identified another individual who allegedly enrolled his wife, children and other relatives and collected 13 salaries.

ICPC Chairman, Musa Aliyu, disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja while delivering the keynote address at the 2026 Economic Confidential Lecture and National Spokespersons Award organised by Image Merchants Promotions Limited.

Aliyu said the commission’s investigation into ghost workers had exposed how individuals manipulated government payroll systems to receive multiple salaries.

“We discovered that one person enrolled 14 members of his family,” he said.

Aliyu said the commission had identified about 900 suspected ghost workers and published their names, challenging them to prove that they were genuine employees.

He said the commission spent about a year investigating the suspected ghost workers and uncovering how fictitious names were inserted into government payrolls.

“In some cases, when they insert their names, you will see their name in the payroll. You will see their email. But when you check the account number, you will see the name of another person. So, that is how these things have been done,” he explained.

Aliyu warned that ghost workers could lead to other fraudulent benefits, including pensions, mortgages, housing funds and health insurance.

“Once there is a ghost worker, there is a ghost pension, there is a ghost mortgage, there is a ghost housing fund, there is ghost health insurance,” he said.

He disclosed that the commission recovered more than N24 billion in ghost pension funds in 2024.

Aliyu said the ICPC was increasingly focusing on preventing corruption and protecting public resources through interventions rather than relying solely on prosecution.

“It is better for us to do that than to engage in filing criminal charges. How many charges can we file?” he asked.

He said the commission had recovered or secured government resources through interventions in projects and other areas, stressing that its ultimate goal was to ensure that Nigerians benefited from public expenditure.

The ICPC chairman also called for greater use of data and technology in fighting corruption, saying access to reliable information was essential to strengthening public confidence in anti-corruption efforts.