FG Discovers 45,000 Ghost Workers Using BVN
By Editor
The Federal Government uncovered about 45,000 ghost workers on its payroll after integrating the Bank Verification Number system into its salary structure. The discovery exposed widespread irregularities in public sector payments.
Former Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, disclosed that the breakthrough came after authorities matched the federal payroll with the BVN database, revealing thousands of questionable entries.
She explained that before the reform, the government’s payroll was one of its largest expenses and was filled with inefficiencies that earlier verification efforts failed to address.
Previous attempts to clean up the payroll using biometric systems had stalled, mainly due to resistance from some government agencies that refused to cooperate with centralised verification.
To overcome the challenge, the government relied on the already existing BVN system instead of introducing a fresh biometric exercise.
After running the payroll data through the BVN platform, authorities discovered thousands of names linked to multiple salaries and irregular payments.
Adeosun noted that many of the so-called ghost workers were not necessarily non-existent individuals but cases where one BVN was tied to several salary accounts.
She added that some cases involved people who had died or left service but were still receiving salaries due to system lapses.
To sustain the reform, measures were introduced to ensure accountability, including requiring top officials to approve and take responsibility for payroll records.
The discovery highlighted the importance of using data and technology to detect fraud and improve transparency in government financial systems.