Tinubu Orders Audit of Government Systems Amid Fake Agency Claims

President Bola Tinubu has asked the Minister of Finance and Co-ordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, to manage a forensic audit of federal government systems.

This audit will look into the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), federal agencies, and their management controls.

Tinubu's order comes after the Federal Executive Council's meeting on 19 August 2026. This was in response to findings from the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) about fake agencies, ghost workers, and other control issues.

The audit aims to find out how weak areas in the government's control system have been misused.

Two Parts of the Audit

There are two main parts to this audit.

The first part will focus on a forensic audit of government systems, especially IPPIS and related payroll, personnel, pension, and financial management systems. It will check reported ghost workers and payroll fraud, compare the numbers found by the ICPC, find out how fake or unqualified people got on the payroll, and review access, identity, biometric, and bank account controls.

This part will also look at how IPPIS connects with other government systems like GIFMIS, Remita, the Treasury Single Account (TSA), and Sub-TSA. The goal is to see if fraud happened due to system problems, process issues, poor separation of duties, or intentional bypassing of rules.

The second part of the audit will cover all federal agencies, departments, commissions, councils, parastatals, and other government bodies. It will create a clear list of these bodies and check their legal status, while also looking at how they get official recognition, budget approvals, communication rights, office spaces, and access to government systems.

Checking Controls and Integrity

This part will evaluate governance, procurement, internal audit, and oversight controls across the government. The aim is to fix weaknesses that could let unauthorized entities or people use public funds.

Tinubu has instructed that the audit be done with high standards of independence, professionalism, and forensic integrity.

The audit team will have access to important government systems and records. They will work with the ICPC to make sure the review adds to ongoing investigations, prosecutions, and recoveries.

Tinubu wants this audit to do more than just find individual cases of fraud or administrative issues. He hopes it will strengthen the government's framework, fix systemic gaps, improve data checking and matching, boost accountability, and ensure that only proper entities and qualified people can access government resources.

This audit shows the President’s commitment to improving transparency, accountability, fiscal governance, and the integrity of institutions within the federal government.