The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) says it has uncovered 908 suspected fake workers across several federal ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), recovering about N942 million allegedly paid as fraudulent salaries.

ICPC Chairman, Musa Aliyu, disclosed that the discovery followed an investigation launched in 2024 after the commission detected irregularities in pension payments.

According to Aliyu, fake workers are individuals whose names are illegally inserted into government payrolls despite not being legitimate employees.

He alleged that the investigation uncovered cases where senior government officials enrolled relatives and associates on payrolls and diverted the salaries for personal gain.

The ICPC chairman revealed that one suspect allegedly placed the names of his wife, son and mother-in-law on a government payroll while also collecting the salaries of 12 other workers.

Aliyu said the investigation covered at least 50 federal MDAs, with some institutions recording significantly higher numbers of suspected fake workers than others.

He disclosed that the Nigeria Police Force recorded the highest figure with 570 suspected fake workers. The National Water Resources Authority had 80, while the Federal Ministry of Works recorded 56.

According to him, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had 24 suspected fake workers, the Ministry of Defence recorded 19, while the Ministries of Power and Industry, Trade and Investment had 17 each.

He added that the Federal Ministry of Health recorded 15 suspected fake workers, while the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation had 12.

Aliyu further stated that the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Ministry of Interior were also among the institutions where fake workers were uncovered, although he did not disclose the number of affected names, noting that investigations are still ongoing.