Nigeria’s Digital Reforms Helping Curb Payroll Fraud, Improve Financial Accountability – BPSR DG

Digital reforms in Nigeria’s public sector are improving financial accountability, strengthening government expenditure monitoring and helping to prevent payroll fraud, the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR), Dr Dasuki Arabi, has said.

Arabi spoke on Friday in Lagos at the 2026 Nigeria Annual Business Analysis Conference, organised by the Nigeria Chapter of the International Institute of Business Analysis.

He identified the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) and Bank Verification Number (BVN) as key tools supporting efforts to improve transparency, reduce corruption and strengthen public administration.

According to him, the reforms were introduced to improve public financial management, reduce the cost of governance and address administrative inefficiencies.

Explaining the role of IPPIS, which manages the payroll and records of public servants, Arabi said the platform had helped the government monitor staff records and detect irregularities, including multiple salary payments.

He explained that the system uses employee identification details to prevent individuals from collecting salaries from different government institutions through the same record. It also provides access to information on workers’ employment and retirement status.

The BPSR director-general also highlighted GIFMIS as an important tool for strengthening expenditure controls. The platform connects government institutions and service providers to a central financial management system, allowing public spending to be monitored as transactions take place.

Arabi said contractors seeking payments from the government were required to meet their tax obligations and provide relevant corporate information to the Corporate Affairs Commission. He added that the system also supported checks on company directors and shareholders flagged by anti-corruption agencies.

He said the platform had improved visibility over public funds, allowing institutions such as the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation to monitor government transactions. Civil society organisations could also use available information to scrutinise public allocations and expenditure.

On the BVN, Arabi said the banking identification system had strengthened efforts to identify suspicious financial transactions and trace financial activities.

He acknowledged that digital reforms had not eliminated corruption but argued that they had increased awareness that public financial activities could be monitored.

Despite the progress, Arabi identified weaknesses in policy development and implementation as major challenges facing the public service. He said government officials needed a better understanding of policy development and the wider economic, environmental and social effects of public projects.

He also expressed concern over declining public confidence in government institutions, blaming part of the problem on inadequate citizen engagement during policy formulation and public service delivery.

Arabi said the bureau was promoting a performance-driven public service in which officials would be assessed against measurable targets. He disclosed that ministers had signed performance agreements with the President, with plans to extend the arrangement to heads of government agencies and other public officers through key performance indicators.

The conference, convened by the President of the IIBA Nigeria Chapter, Temitope Shofule, focused on policy, innovation and artificial intelligence as tools for economic transformation. It brought together professionals from different sectors.