BY EgbemaVoice
For years, Nigerians have heard about “ghost workers” in government. But when the Nigeria Police Force went through a full biometric payroll check, the numbers were bigger than anyone expected.
1. HOW IT WAS FOUND:
THE IPPIS CHECK
As part of a federal cleanup, all 42 Police commands were asked to move to IPPIS — the government’s centralized payroll system that pays salaries directly to verified staff using BVN.
Before IPPIS: Reported strength was about 371,800 personnel.
After biometric verification: 291,685 officers were actually confirmed.
Gap found: 80,115 names that couldn’t be verified.
Those unverified names included fake entries, plus people who had retired, resigned, or passed away but were still on the payroll.
2. WHY IT MATTERS
Money: Billions of Naira were being paid monthly to accounts linked to those unverified names.
Security: It also meant Nigeria’s actual number of active police officers was far lower than what was on paper, which affects planning and deployment.
3. HOW THE LOOPHOLE WORKED
Investigations by agencies like ICPC show these schemes usually involve:
Fake profiles created and linked to IPPIS numbers
Bank accounts controlled by proxies to collect salaries
BVN tracking is what’s now making it harder to hide, because it links multiple payments to the same people
4. WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW
The cleanup is ongoing across MDAs.
In March 2026, ICPC secured a court forfeiture of over ₦941.9 million tied to an IPPIS payroll scam after finding 587 unverified accounts. The Police, along with Defence, Education, and Agriculture, were among institutions flagged in that probe.
Tech like IPPIS + BVN has already saved the government hundreds of billions. Experts say the next step is faster prosecution so these loopholes close for good.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Can technology alone end payroll fraud, or do we need tougher consequences too?
Drop your thoughts below 👇
#Nigeria #PublicSector #IPPIS #Accountability #Police #Governance #AntiCorruption
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