“No Verification, No Pay”: FG Orders Salary Stoppage for ‘Ghost Workers’ Starting March
ABUJA — The Federal Government has officially drawn the battle line against payroll fraud, declaring that any federal civil servant who fails to complete the ongoing verification audit by the end of this month will forfeit their salary starting March 2026.
In a decisive memo issued on Wednesday, February 18, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF), Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, announced a final “mop-up” window for the Personnel Audit and Skills Gap Analysis (PASGA).
“The era of ‘absentee landlords’ in the civil service is over,” a senior director at the HCSF told nuus.ng. “We are moving to a system where we pay for presence and productivity, not just names on a list.” Civil servants who have already completed their online Skills Gap Assessment are safe, but those who have ignored the online forms must now rush to Abuja or face the “March Pay Cutoff.”
The government warns that this is not a drill: if your name is not verified by Friday, February 27, the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) will automatically flag you as a “ghost worker.”
The “Mop-Up” Ultimatum
The PASGA exercise, which began in 2025 following a directive by President Bola Tinubu, aims to flush out workers who are either non-existent, working elsewhere, or living abroad while earning federal salaries.
- The Deadline: All affected officers have exactly two weeks—from Monday, February 16 to Friday, February 27, 2026—to regularize their records.
- The Consequence: “Salaries of officers who remain non-compliant at the close of the mop-up window shall be stopped with effect from March 2026,” Walson-Jack stated. “Furthermore, such officers will be subjected to an administrative process to terminate their appointments.”
Where to Go
To avoid being axed, the Head of Service has directed all unverified staff to present themselves physically at two specific locations in Abuja:
- Atiku Hall, Block A, 1st Floor, Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF).
- Afolabi Hall, Block D, 1st Floor, OHCSF Complex.
Why Now?
The crackdown follows an embarrassing discovery by the presidency. Successive audits have revealed that hundreds of “civil servants” currently on the payroll have actually relocated abroad (the Japa syndrome) but continue to receive monthly alerts. Others are working full-time in the private sector while holding onto their government slots.
“The era of ‘absentee landlords’ in the civil service is over,” a senior director at the HCSF told nuus.ng. “We are moving to a system where we pay for presence and productivity, not just names on a list.”
Civil servants who have already completed their online Skills Gap Assessment are safe, but those who have ignored the online forms must now rush to Abuja or face the “March Pay Cutoff.”