ABUJA, Nigeria — A Federal High Court has permanently transferred ₦941.9 million to the Nigerian government after the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, traced the money to hundreds of bank accounts during an investigation into alleged fraud involving the federal payroll system.
Justice Binta Fatima Nyako granted the commission’s request for the final forfeiture of ₦941,994,079.86 on Monday, July 13, 2026, according to a certified copy of the court order.
The money had been recovered during an investigation into suspected abuses of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System, known as IPPIS, and held in an ICPC recovery account while the commission sought judicial approval to transfer it permanently to the Federal Government.
“That an Order is hereby made for the Final Forfeiture to the Federal Republic of Nigeria the Sum of ₦941,994,079.86 seized during investigation into IPPIS Payroll scam in the year 2024,” Nyako ruled.
The order was signed and issued under the court’s seal by Gideon Waya, a registrar.
Funds Linked to Hundreds of Accounts
The forfeiture proceedings involved 909 respondents linked to accounts maintained at 17 financial institutions, according to the court documents.
The institutions were Access Bank, Ecobank, First City Monument Bank, Fidelity Bank, First Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, Jaiz Bank, Keystone Bank, NPF Microfinance Bank, Polaris Bank, Stanbic IBTC, Sterling Bank, Union Bank, Unity Bank, United Bank for Africa, Wema Bank and Zenith Bank.
The first respondent identified in the proceedings was Arilewola Olusanya Matthew, whose listed account was held at Access Bank.
Court documents indicated that some respondents were associated with more than one account or financial institution.
The documents did not establish that every person named in the forfeiture proceedings had been convicted of a criminal offence.
The commission described the recovered money in its application as funds reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity.
ICPC Sought Permanent Transfer
The ICPC filed its motion in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/156/2026 on March 26 through Fatima Abdullahi Bendi, a lawyer representing the commission.
The application was supported by an affidavit sworn by Idris Abubakar, an ICPC official.
Investigators had previously frozen and recovered the money after identifying what the commission described as suspicious transactions connected with a payroll investigation conducted in 2024.
Nyako’s order gave permanent effect to the recovery, transferring ownership of the full amount from the ICPC recovery account to the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The court also affirmed that the money already being held by the commission should remain permanently forfeited to the government.
Federal Payroll System Under Scrutiny
The Federal Government introduced IPPIS to maintain a central database of public employees, automate salary payments and prevent losses caused by inaccurate personnel records and payroll manipulation.
The system was also intended to identify ghost workers and ensure that salaries were paid only to verified employees of federal ministries, departments and agencies.
According to the court documents, the ICPC investigation examined the alleged diversion of public money through accounts held at several banks.
The commission had not issued a public statement on the final order at the time the court documents became available.
