Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu has ordered a thorough forensic audit of the central bank as part of his sweeping reforms to overhaul the country's economy, which has been battered by low oil prices, debt and insecurity.
The president, who took office on May 29 after winning the most competitive election in Nigeria's history, has already scrapped the currency controls that kept the naira artificially strong and a fuel subsidy that cost the government $10 billion last year.
He told visiting World Bank chief Ajay Banga in a meeting in Abuja on Friday that he would also review the civil service payroll and close all "financial loopholes."
"A comprehensive forensic audit is on-going at the Central Bank [of Nigeria]. We are going to do a very serious structural review of the Civil Service payroll. I can’t believe in the numbers I’m seeing and I’ve had that experience before at the state level," Tinubu said, according to a statement issued by his administration.
Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State in southwestern Nigeria and a prominent leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) party, said he was shocked by the number of "ghost workers" – people who receive salaries from the government without working for it. Analysts estimate that the government loses billions of naira each year to this fraud.
"We’ll block all financial loopholes. The reforms will be targeted at the way we work, change of attitude and equally on educating our people. It’s costly but we will do it," the West African leader said.
In early June, Nigeria's new president, Bola Tinubu, fired the country's central bank governor, Godwin Emefiele. The banker was later arrested by the country's secret police, the Department of State Services (DSS), as part of an investigation into his office's activities.
Tinubu's reforms have earned him praise from international investors and credit rating agencies. S&P Global Ratings on Friday revised its outlook on Nigeria to stable from negative, citing the new president's reforms, which the agency said could benefit the country's growth and fiscal outcomes if implemented.
Tinubu faces enormous challenges as he tries to revive Africa's largest economy, which has been struggling with anemic growth, record debt, shrinking oil production and widespread insecurity caused by extremist militants, separatist groups and bandits.