The Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA) Resource Centre has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to ensure the forensic audit of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) leads to the prosecution of those behind ghost worker schemes in federal agencies.
The group was reacting to the President’s directive for a comprehensive forensic audit of IPPIS and other government payroll systems following revelations of fictitious government entities and systemic control failures.
This was contained in a statement signed by HEDA’s Chairman, Olanrewaju Suraju, made available to The HR Anchor on Sunday.
“We particularly call on the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to move swiftly on all evidence of criminal conduct uncovered during the investigations,” Suraju said.
He said those found culpable in payroll fraud must face the law.
“Where individuals are found to have created fictitious agencies, falsified government records, impersonated public officials, facilitated ghost-worker schemes or unlawfully accessed public resources, they must be prosecuted in accordance with the law,” he added.
HEDA said the audit should go beyond naming individuals to exposing how the system enabled the fraud.
“Government must ensure that the exercise establishes not only who committed the offences, but also how the system allowed such conduct to occur and who enabled or failed to prevent it,” Suraju stated.
The group also called for transparency in the process, saying Nigerians deserve to know the scale of the problem and what is being done about it.
“The outcome of the forensic audit, subject to legitimate security and investigative considerations, should be made sufficiently public to enable citizens to understand the scale of the problem and the measures being taken to address it,” the statement read.
HEDA further urged prosecutorial authorities to pursue cases to their logical conclusion and recover public funds established to have been fraudulently obtained.
The President’s directive comes amid growing concerns over payroll leakages and the continued presence of ghost workers despite previous cleanup exercises in the federal civil service.
