President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has directed the Minister of Finance and Co-ordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, to oversee and coordinate a comprehensive forensic audit of Federal Government systems.
This is contained in a statement by the Special Adviser to the President
(Information& Strategy), Bayo Onanuga, on Friday.
The audit will include a review of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), Federal Government agencies, and their administration and internal controls.
President Tinubu’s directive follows the Federal Executive Council’s resolution on Aug.19, in response to findings by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on “fake agencies”, ghost workers, and other control failures.
According to the statement, the exercise will establish the nature and extent of weaknesses in the government’s control system, and determine how such weaknesses have been exploited.
“The review will comprise two interconnected components.
The first will focus on a forensic audit of Government systems, particularly IPPIS and related payroll, personnel, pension, and financial-management platforms. It will examine reported cases of ghost workers and payroll fraud, reconcile the figures identified by the ICPC, trace how fictitious or ineligible persons were enrolled, and review access, identity, biometric, and bank-account controls.”
The exercise is also intended to examine the interfaces between IPPIS and other government platforms, including GIFMIS, Remita, the Treasury Single Account (TSA), and Sub-TSA, to determine whether fraud resulted from system defects, process failures, inadequate segregation of duties, or deliberate circumvention.
The statement added that the second component of the audit would cover all Federal Government agencies, departments, commissions, councils, parastatals, and other government bodies.
It stated: “It will 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.
“The exercise will assess governance, procurement, internal audit, and oversight controls across the Government to close systemic weaknesses that could allow irregular entities or persons to access public resources.”
President Tinubu directed that the exercise be conducted with the highest standards of independence, professionalism, and forensic integrity.
According to the statement, the audit team will have access to relevant government systems and records. It will collaborate with the ICPC to ensure that the review complements all ongoing investigations, prosecutions, and recoveries.
“President Tinubu expects the exercise to go beyond identifying individual cases of fraud or administrative failure by strengthening the architecture of Government, closing systemic loopholes, improving data verification and reconciliation, reinforcing accountability, and ensuring that only duly constituted entities and eligible personnel have access to Government resources.
“The exercise underscores the President’s commitment to strengthening transparency, accountability, fiscal governance, and institutional integrity across the Federal Government,” Onanuga stated
By Dianabasi Effiong
