FG Orders Forensic Audit Of Payroll System, Moves To Decriminalise Attempted Suicide

• The Federal Executive Council has ordered a forensic audit of the Federal Government’s payroll and administrative systems after investigations uncovered fake agencies and ghost personnel that were able to obtain government administrative and Treasury Single Account codes, although no funds were ultimately disbursed.

• Finance Minister Taiwo Oyedele said that about ₦9.5 trillion has been allocated to incremental salary and allowance payments, prompting the government to intensify efforts to eliminate fraudulent personnel from the payroll and ensure public funds are paid only to legitimate civil servants.

• FEC also approved an amendment to Nigeria’s mental health law to decriminalise attempted suicide, with Health Minister Muhammad Ali Pate saying people experiencing psychological distress should receive treatment and psychosocial support rather than face prosecution under colonial-era criminal provisions.

• The council approved major healthcare investments, including more than ₦255 billion in new National Hospital, Abuja, projects and a ₦302.3 billion National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment facility, as the Federal Government seeks to modernise specialist healthcare and reduce medical tourism.

August 19, () — The Federal Executive Council (FEC), on Wednesday, ordered a comprehensive forensic audit of the Federal Government’s payroll, accounting and administrative systems following the discovery of fraudulent agencies and personnel within the public service structure.

The council also approved an executive bill seeking to decriminalise attempted suicide in Nigeria, alongside a series of major healthcare infrastructure projects worth hundreds of billions of naira.

The decisions were disclosed by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, and the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Muhammad Ali Pate, while briefing State House correspondents after the FEC meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

FG Targets Ghost Workers, Fake Agencies

Oyedele said FEC approved a holistic investigation into payroll irregularities involving the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and several government agencies.

He said the exercise would include a review of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) to identify fake agencies and ghost employees who may have been drawing from government resources.

According to the minister, the government’s immediate objective is to protect public funds and ensure that salaries and allowances reach only legitimate civil servants.

Oyedele disclosed that approximately ₦9.5 trillion had been allocated to incremental salary and allowance payments, a figure he said exceeded recent savings from subsidy reforms.

He said the elimination of fraudulent personnel would help government optimise expenditure, reduce financial constraints and ensure that resources are directed towards workers performing legitimate public service functions.

The Attorney-General’s office, he said, would collaborate with relevant government agencies to identify and remove fake agencies and personnel and strengthen the integrity of the Federal Government’s payroll.

Oyedele said the investigation followed the discovery of what he described as a serious security breach in government systems. According to him, unauthorised individuals colluded to create a fake government agency which successfully obtained administrative codes and Treasury Single Account (TSA) codes.

Although the fraudulent entity obtained the codes, Oyedele said no funds were actually disbursed to it.

He said the incident exposed weaknesses in government’s administrative and accounting processes and demonstrated the need for a deeper examination of the systems used to create and authorise government entities.

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) investigated the matter and submitted its report to President Tinubu.

Oyedele said the investigation showed that the fraud was not limited to a purported presidential welfare system but extended to a fake Presidential Foreign Promotion Council and other agencies.

He said the President subsequently directed the Attorney-General of the Federation and the Minister of Finance to engage professional audit firms to conduct forensic evaluations of the affected systems.

The audits, he explained, would identify existing loopholes, establish how the fraudulent entities were created and recommend measures to prevent similar breaches in the future.

“The objective is to identify existing lapses, plug vulnerabilities, and prevent future occurrences of such national embarrassments by strengthening oversight across all governmental institutions.”

Oyedele described the incident as a collective failure within the government system, rather than a problem attributable to one individual or institution.

He also said the government was yet to establish the identities of all the fake agencies involved.

The minister warned that some of the vulnerabilities uncovered may have existed before the Tinubu administration came into office, making it necessary to examine the systems comprehensively rather than focus only on recent activities.

Attempted Suicide to Be Decriminalised

In a separate but significant policy decision, FEC approved an amendment to Nigeria’s mental health law to remove criminal penalties for attempted suicide.

Pate said the proposed amendment to the National Mental Health Act would be transmitted to the National Assembly as an executive bill.

The reform seeks to move Nigeria away from treating people who attempt suicide as criminals and towards an approach centred on medical treatment, mental healthcare and psychosocial support.

Pate said attempted suicide remains criminalised under Section 327 of the Criminal Code Act and Section 231 of the Penal Code. He argued that the provisions are inconsistent with the approach of the National Mental Health Act and may discourage people experiencing psychological distress from seeking help.

Pate said people who attempt to take their own lives should be regarded as individuals in need of care and support, rather than punished for their condition. He likened the current legal approach to punishing someone for suffering from an illness, saying mental health conditions should receive the same treatment-oriented response as other health conditions.

The minister said the proposed reform was aimed at changing the national response from prosecution to intervention, treatment and rehabilitation.

Over 7,000 Suicide Deaths Annually

Pate said the scale of the suicide problem justified the proposed legislative reform. Citing World Health Organisation figures, he said more than 7,000 people die by suicide in Nigeria every year, while an estimated 300,000 suicide attempts occur annually.

He added that more than 450,000 Nigerians require psychosocial support each year.

Globally, he said, suicide remains one of the leading causes of death among young people.

The minister said the Federal Government was targeting a 15 per cent reduction in suicide incidence by 2030. He disclosed that the reform followed extensive consultations with mental health advocates and the work of a task force established after a supportive resolution by the House of Representatives.

The Federal Ministries of Health and Social Welfare and Justice subsequently collaborated on the proposed amendment before it was presented to FEC. If enacted by the National Assembly, the amendment would remove a major legal barrier confronting people who need urgent mental health intervention.

FEC Approves National Centre for Oral Health

The council also approved an executive bill for the establishment of a National Centre for Oral Health as a national referral and research institution.

Pate said the National Centre for Oral Health Establishment Bill 2026 would now be transmitted to the National Assembly. He said efforts to establish such an institution date back to 1982, when an international congress on oral health research in Lagos recommended the establishment of an Intercountry Demonstration Training and Research Centre for the African region.

Although the Federal Ministry of Health subsequently established a centre, Pate said it did not have the necessary legal framework. The proposed legislation would provide a statutory foundation for the institution and enable it to respond to Nigeria’s growing burden of oral diseases.

Pate said oral healthcare remained a major gap in the country’s specialised healthcare architecture despite the presence of teaching hospitals, federal medical centres and specialist institutions.

He explained that the importance of oral healthcare extended beyond dental conditions because several systemic diseases can manifest in the mouth and be detected through proper oral examination.

₦255bn-Plus for National Hospital Overhaul

FEC also approved a major overhaul of the National Hospital, Abuja, involving the construction of new administrative, clinical and specialist facilities.

Pate said the hospital, established about 25 years ago with the ambition of becoming a quaternary healthcare institution, had not received sufficient investment in infrastructure and equipment to realise that vision.

Among the approvals is a new administrative and management block at an estimated cost of ₦18.74 billion. The contract was awarded to Visible Construction Limited.

The council also approved ₦64.92 billion for modular clinics and theatres for different medical specialities. In addition, FEC approved ₦103 billion for the construction of a high-end wing at the hospital, with a completion period of 24 months. Another ₦69 billion was approved for the construction of a Neuroscience Institute.

Pate said the institute would provide specialised infrastructure for neurosurgery, radiology, interventional medicine and rehabilitation for patients suffering from strokes, brain tumours and other disorders affecting the brain and nervous system.

He said the investment was necessary to transform the National Hospital into a modern national referral facility capable of serving patients from across Nigeria.

“We need a modern National Hospital here in Abuja, where Nigerians from all over the country can be served, but also folks here in Abuja and the Federal Capital Territory can have a befitting place to receive the services.”

₦302.3bn Cancer Institute Approved

FEC also approved the establishment of a flagship National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment facility at an estimated cost of ₦302.3 billion.

The approval covers the design, construction, furnishing, equipping, supervision and commissioning of the facility.

The contract was awarded to CBC Global Civil and Building Construction Nigeria Limited, with a completion period of 36 months.

Pate said the project was part of the administration’s plan to expand cancer research, treatment, innovation and specialist capacity in Nigeria. He recalled that Tinubu had previously approved the development and upgrading of world-class cancer centres, with facilities in Katsina, Benin and Enugu already completed.

The new facility will operate under the National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment (NICRAT) and is expected to become a major national hub for cancer research and treatment.

Pate said funding provisions for the project had been made in the 2025 and 2026 budgets. He added that procurement for the cancer institute and the National Hospital projects passed through the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP).

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Responding to concerns about the size of the contracts, Pate said the projects went through competitive procurement processes and were awarded to companies considered capable of delivering specialised healthcare infrastructure within the stipulated timelines.

He said the necessary clearances and no-objection approvals had also been obtained from the BPP.

The minister acknowledged that financing the projects would present a challenge but argued that Nigeria could no longer afford to postpone critical healthcare investments simply because they were expensive.

He noted that government routinely commits hundreds of billions of naira to road infrastructure because of its importance to economic development, but comparable investments in healthcare had historically been limited.

Pate said the Tinubu administration intended to change that pattern as government revenues and the economy improve.

He said years of inadequate investment had left many primary healthcare centres, general hospitals and tertiary institutions with ageing infrastructure and insufficient equipment.

“These are things that we have to fix as a people. So now we are on that path.”

According to Pate, the new investments are expected to modernise Nigeria’s healthcare infrastructure, improve access to specialised treatment and reduce the need for Nigerians to travel abroad for medical care.

He said outbound medical tourism was already declining but stressed that continued investment in sophisticated facilities, equipment and specialist services would be required to sustain the trend.

The minister also linked the infrastructure programme to the Federal Government’s efforts to retain Nigerian medical professionals. He said doctors and other specialists would be more likely to remain in Nigeria if they had access to modern hospitals, advanced equipment and an enabling environment in which they could practise their professions effectively.

Pate said Nigerian health professionals should not have to travel thousands of kilometres abroad to access facilities where they can fully deploy their expertise.

The government, he added, ultimately wants to build a healthcare system capable of providing high-quality services to Nigerians while also attracting patients from other countries.

Wednesday’s FEC decisions therefore combine a major crackdown on weaknesses in government payroll and administrative systems with far-reaching reforms in mental healthcare and significant new investments in specialised medical infrastructure.