FORMER Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, has revealed how the Federal Government uncovered widespread payroll fraud, identifying no fewer than 45,000 “ghost workers” through the integration of the Bank Verification Number (BVN) system.
News Point Nigeria reports that Adeosun made the disclosure while speaking at the Citadel School of Government Dialogue Series in Lagos, where she detailed how technology was deployed to address long-standing inefficiencies in the federal payroll system.
According to her, prior to the reforms, personnel costs constituted the largest component of government expenditure, plagued by systemic loopholes that had resisted earlier attempts at clean-up.
“The payroll was our biggest cost,” she said. “Previous biometric efforts had stalled because paramilitary groups refused to cooperate.”
She explained that earlier initiatives to sanitise the payroll using biometric data faced significant resistance, particularly from agencies such as the Police and the Army, which were reluctant to submit to centralised verification systems.
Faced with these challenges, the ministry adopted an alternative approach by leveraging the existing BVN database rather than introducing a new biometric framework.
“We bypassed this by using BVN data. We ran the federal payroll against the BVN database, and the result was staggering—we found 45,000 ‘ghost workers,’” she stated.
Adeosun clarified that the term “ghost worker” often oversimplifies the issue, noting that the irregularities were not always the result of organised criminal networks.
“In many cases, it wasn’t a ‘ghost,’ but one person’s BVN linked to seven different salaries,” she explained.
She added that some of the discrepancies were due to inefficiencies within the system, including cases where individuals who had died or transferred from service were still listed on the payroll.
“It wasn’t always a cartel. Sometimes it was just inefficiency,” she noted.
To ensure the sustainability of the reform, Adeosun said her team introduced a human accountability mechanism to complement the technological solution.
Permanent Secretaries were required to personally sign off on their respective payrolls, creating a direct line of responsibility and making it significantly harder to conceal fraudulent entries.
Using the BVN success story as a reference point, Adeosun stressed the importance of data-driven decision-making in governance.
“If you just shout, you’re just a ‘clanging cymbal.’ If you come armed with data and graphs, you can take on anybody. Data is hard to argue with,” she said.
She urged public officials to embrace technology, particularly artificial intelligence and data tools, as essential instruments for addressing governance challenges.
“Fall in love with AI and data tools,” she advised, while also emphasising the need for discipline and clarity in policy implementation.
“If you can’t explain your policy, you shouldn’t be doing it,” she added, noting that while technology provides the “bullets,” effective leadership is required to “fire the cannonballs” necessary for meaningful national transformation.
The event also featured prominent figures, including Tunde Bakare and Mike Adebamowo, who echoed the need for innovation and accountability in public service.
Bakare commended Adeosun’s resilience and integrity, noting that her return to public discourse was significant.
“If Adeosun had not won her case, the stigma would have trailed her. It is highly commendable that she came out as minister and no houses or stolen funds were traced to her,” he said.
Participants at the dialogue agreed that while the discovery of 45,000 ghost workers marked a major milestone in curbing financial leakages, such reforms must be institutionalised through legislation to ensure continuity.