Former Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, has revealed that the Federal Government uncovered about 45,000 ‘ghost workers’ by integrating the Bank Verification Number (BVN) into its payroll system.
She disclosed this during a recent dialogue at the Citadel School of Government in Lagos, where she spoke on the role of technology in improving public sector efficiency.
Adeosun served as Nigeria’s finance minister under former President Muhammadu Buhari from November 2015 until her resignation on September 14, 2018, following an NYSC certificate controversy.
The former minister also served as chairman of the board of African Export–Import Bank.
What Adeosun is saying
Adeosun explained that the federal payroll was the government’s largest expenditure at the time, weighed down by inefficiencies within the civil service.
- “The payroll was our biggest cost,” she said, noting that earlier reforms had struggled to gain traction.
- “Previous biometric efforts had stalled because paramilitary groups refused to cooperate. 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 further clarified that many of the irregularities were not necessarily the work of organised syndicates but often stemmed from weak systems and abuse by individuals.
- “In many cases, it wasn’t a ‘ghost,’ but one person’s BVN linked to seven different salaries. It wasn’t always a ‘cartel.’ Sometimes it was just inefficiency, people who had died or transferred but were still being paid,” she added.
More insights
Using the BVN reform as a case study, Adeosun stressed the importance of data-driven governance, arguing that evidence-based policymaking strengthens accountability and public trust.
- “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.
During the event, which also featured Tunde Bakare and Mike Adebamowo, Adeosun, who was later cleared of wrongdoing regarding her NYSC certificate scandal by a High Court in July 2021, urged current and aspiring public officials to adopt modern tools, including artificial intelligence, while maintaining the discipline required to execute reforms effectively.
- “If you can’t explain your policy, you shouldn’t be doing it,” she said, adding that while technology provides the “bullets,” it takes strong leadership to “fire the cannonballs” needed for national transformation.
What you should know
During Adeosun’s time in office, there appeared to be a more aggressive push to eliminate ghost workers from Nigeria’s federal civil service, though the problem has persisted in various forms across government institutions.
In March 2016, Nairametrics reported that about 11,000 ghost workers were uncovered in a fresh audit of the Federal Government payroll.
A month later, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission identified 37,395 ghost workers, with estimated losses of about N1 billion.
Similarly, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission disclosed in February 2024 that it recovered over N20 billion from pension deductions linked to ghost workers.
At the subnational level, the Jigawa State Government reported in 2024 that it discovered 6,348 ghost workers, leading to monthly savings of over N314 million.
